A woman who worked as a Long Beach school aide with children with disabilities pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony count of possession of child or youth pornography.
Jaylee Brackman, 22, of Long Beach, was ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with minors and not to possess any pornography, along with being required to allow law enforcement to search her electronic communication devices at any time without probable cause or reasonable suspicion as a condition of her bail, which was set at $20,000, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Brackman — who was employed by the Long Beach Unified School District — was arrested June 3 by Los Angeles police officers after a search of an apartment in Long Beach allegedly uncovered illicit material on her electronic devices, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Police discovered the alleged activity while investigating a separate child pornography case, officials said.
“This defendant held a position of trust with some of the most vulnerable children in our community,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement announcing the case. “The exploitation of children in any form is absolutely unacceptable, and my office will aggressively prosecute anyone involved in this kind of predatory behavior.”
Brackman is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom June 17, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to allow the case against her to proceed to trial.
If convicted as charged, she faces up to three years in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.