Former Olin teacher, coach convicted of sexual exploitation will be resentenced

The gazette

A former Olin High School resource teacher and volleyball coach convicted of sexual exploitation and other charges in 2011 will be resentenced because the trial court considered a prior assault charge which was never proven.

Jeremy Chamberlin, 34, was convicted by a Jones County jury in April 2011 of sexual exploitation by a school employee, two misdemeanor counts of lascivious conduct with a minor and three misdemeanor counts of disseminating or exhibiting obscene materials to a minor.

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Chamberlin appealed, claiming there was insufficient evidence to establish he was in a position of authority over the victim, insufficient evidence to establish the pictures he text the victim were obscene and the district court considered a previous unproven offense in sentencing him to five years in prison.

The court denied his first two arguments stating there was substantial evidence to show Chamberlin was in authority over the 16-year-old girl and he text pictures of his genitalia to her, which were sent in the context of “sexually-charged texting conversations with the minor.”

The court agreed with Chamberlin’s argument that the trial judge improperly considered the unproven charge in the sentencing. The sentencing is vacated and remanded back to the district court for resentencing.

This article originally appeared on The gazette