Ex-Wichita high school English teacher pleads guilty in child pornography case
An ex-high school teacher charged with possessing child pornography after a woman he dated turned what she considered worrisome text messages over to police pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of sexual exploitation of a child, court records show.
Shawn P. Wingfield, 49, abruptly resigned from his job teaching gifted English and debate at Wichita Northwest High School on July 19, less than a week before police arrested him on a warrant. In an interview with The Eagle earlier this year, Nicole Haralambidis said she reported Wingfield to authorities after he sent her messages on Father’s Day referencing child porn.
An affidavit released by the court says Wingfield described himself in the texts as a “condemned hebephile” — a term for adults who are sexually attracted to 11- to 14-year-olds — and admitted to viewing sexually explicit material of minors. He also confessed sexual attraction to a 13-year-old girl, according to the document.
Authorities investigating the report found embedded and deleted images of naked children and several files that had names suggesting they depicted child sex abuse on electronics seized from Wingfield’s home, the affidavit says.
Wingfield’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 11.
