Assistant Principal to Be Repaid for Legal Fees

The Loudoun County School Board voted this week to pay in full the legal fees of an assistant high school principal who had faced charges related to child pornography that were dismissed in March.

Ting-Yi Oei of Reston, an assistant principal at Freedom High School in South Riding, racked up a bill of $167,621 over the course of a legal battle that lasted almost a year. The School Board had the discretion to pay all or a portion of the bill and voted 7 to 1 Tuesday night for full reimbursement. Board member Bob Ohneiser (Broad Run) voted against the measure, and board member Joseph M. Guzman (Sugarland Run) abstained.

"We're very pleased and appreciative of the board's actions," said Diane Curling, Oei's wife. Oei was at work yesterday and unavailable for comment. He returned to Freedom High in April.

Oei was arrested Aug. 20 after law enforcement officials said he was in possession of an inappropriate cellphone photo of a female student taken by another student. He was charged with possession, a felony, and later with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. But a judge threw out all charges in March, saying the photo was not sexually explicit enough to constitute child pornography.

School Board members said that although the fees might be expensive, they did not believe Oei should be held responsible for them.

"He is an employee. He was acting in his official capacity, and the judge tossed the case out on its ear," School Board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. (Dulles) said at the Tuesday meeting. "Some of [his] reputation is going to be very, very difficult to get back. . . . At least we can make him whole again."