A federal judge on Friday sentenced a former San Diego Unified School District teacher and associate principal at Hoover High School to eight years in prison for possession of child sexual abuse material. Charles Thomas Boyd DeFreitas, 45, pleaded guilty to a federal charge last year, admitting that he possessed videos and images on his electronic devices that depicted juveniles engaged in sexual conduct. U.S. District Judge Robert Huie also imposed 12 years of supervised release, which will include monitoring of DeFreitas’s electronic devices and internet use, once he’s released from prison. At the time of his arrest, DeFreitas had worked for the school district for more than 13 years, first as a teacher at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and later in his administrative role at Hoover High in City Heights. He was placed on an unpaid leave of absence following his arrest in March 2024 and he resigned last June shortly before pleading guilty to the federal criminal charge. During Friday’s sentencing, there were discussions of other troubling incidents, including a time when DeFreitas sent a nude photo of himself to a former foster child of his shortly after that person’s 18th birthday. DeFreitas’s attorney said the photo was sent unintentionally. DeFreitas also told the judge that shortly before his arrest, he had a sexual phone conversation with a 17-year-old former student while in his school office, that he recorded himself masturbating during that conversation and that he then sent that video to the former student. “I stand here today fully responsible for my actions,” DeFreitas told Huie, adding that he is remorseful that his actions will “shake people’s faith” in all educators. “I am deeply ashamed and so sorry,” he said. DeFreitas’s own past history as an abuse victim was discussed at length during Friday’s hearing. Huie said his sentence was two years less than what prosecutors had recommended “principally based on the abuse you suffered.” Defense attorney Patrick Griffin told the Union-Tribune that his client’s abuser was ultimately prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison, though he said DeFreitas never received professional counseling or therapy until after his arrest in this case. “The Court considered that history not as an excuse, but as important context in understanding how decades of untreated trauma affected Mr. DeFreitas’s mental health and judgment,” Griffin said. “The sentence imposed today reflects the seriousness of the offense while also recognizing the progress he has made and the importance of continued treatment and structured supervision moving forward.” Huie also seemed to give weight to the fact that there were no allegations that DeFreitas had inappropriate sexual contact with any minors, and that it appeared the child sexual abuse material he possessed was obtained in one single download. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Griffith acknowledged DeFreitas’s trauma, but argued that DeFreitas was uniquely suited to understand the harm he was causing. “Children should not have to bear the burden of a former victim’s trauma,” Griffith argued. Her recommendation of a 10-year prison term was less than the low-end of the federal sentencing guidelines, but Griffith wrote in sentencing documents that her recommendation took into account certain mitigating factors such as DeFreitas’s abuse. DeFreitas was initially arrested in March 2024 on state charges, but those charges were later dropped in favor of the federal prosecution. Griffith said the investigation was sparked by “his inappropriate relationship with a student,” an apparent reference to the phone conversation and video that DeFreitas told the judge about on Friday. While handing down his sentence, Huie said DeFreitas seemed to be undergoing therapy in a genuine way and not just to seek favor with the court. But he said that DeFreitas’s conduct during the call with the former student was a “gross abuse of trust,” and that it was “unfathomable” that DeFreitas could do what he did. The judge allowed DeFreitas, who has been on bail with a GPS ankle monitor, to remain out of custody until he must report to prison in April. The judge said he would recommend that the federal Bureau of Prisons place DeFreitas at a Colorado facility with a specialized sex-offender program. ...read more read less