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Panhandle School Volunteer Charged With Child Porn

POSTED: Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Authorities say there's no evidence an 80-year-old man charged with possessing child pornography has had any inappropriate relationships with children at an elementary school where he did volunteer work.

Abraham Koppell has not returned to Butler Elementary School since he was freed on bond March 2, Principal Gail Smith said Tuesday.

The part-time resident of Freeport, a small town in the Florida Panhandle about 20 miles northeast of Destin, was charged March 1 with 149 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of obtaining the material.

"This has been totally unrelated to the school," Smith said.

Koppell had been working with fourth-graders as a reading volunteer, according to a Walton County sheriff's report.

A technician discovered the alleged pornography on Kopell's home computer after he dropped it off to have a larger hard drive installed, the report states.

A telephone number listed for Koppell in the report has been disconnected and court records show no lawyer yet has his case. He is scheduled to enter a plea April 19.

If convicted he could face a sentence ranging from probation to five years in prison for each count. He was charged with a possession count for each image found on his computer.

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