CHANHASSEN, Minn. - A former principal at Chanhassen High School has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child porn possession.
Last December, Timothy Dorway, 44, was charged with seven counts of possessing child pornography. Ten more charges were added in March. In June, Dorway pleaded guilty to seven of the counts. As part of a deal, Dorway will serve five years in prison, five years of conditional release and must register as a sex offender.
According to the charges, the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was tipped off after a Dropbox user uploaded 11 pornographic videos involving girls between the ages of 11 and 14 to Dorway's account. That Dropbox account was accessed both from Dorway's home and from a computer owned by the Eastern Carver County School District.
The complaint states Dorway admitted to viewing the child pornography videos and at times, would upload them to his own Dropbox account and delete them later. Dorway told authorities he only viewed explicit material involving children between the ages of 11 and 13. However, investigators found additional sexual content in Dorway's possession on a previous work computer involving girls and boys as young as 1 to 3 years old.
Fighting back tears, Dorway said he was sorry.
"I cannot easily put into words the remorse and sorrow I have for committing these crimes," he said. "I do not feel I need prison. I know I'm not a threat to public safety," he added, arguing he wasn't pleased with the plea deal he eventually agreed to and that the State is making an example out of him.
"Ultimately, this crime really is a crime against society and it impacts children and victims on a level that is indescribable. So, we were certainly pleased with the outcome," said Carver County Attorney Mark Metz.
Former Chanhassen HS Principal Timothy Dorway in court, sentenced to 60 months for possessing child porn. @kare11 pic.twitter.com/2EhJI3Np8s
— Cory Hepola (@CoryHepola) July 26, 2017