A former Corvallis-area teacher pleaded guilty on Thursday to four counts of first-degree encouraging child sex abuse, a child-pornography charge.
Scott Alan Gerweck, 37, of Eugene, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 28 in Linn County Circuit Court.
At the time of his arrest and arraignment in January 2019, Gerweck lived in Albany and was a teacher at Ashbrook Independent School in Corvallis. He had been a music teacher at the private school for more than a decade, according to the facility’s website.
Court paperwork indicates that the defense and prosecution are far away on an agreement on how much prison time Gerweck should serve, if any, and Judge Thomas McHill will determine the matter.
The plea petition in the case states that the Linn County District Attorney’s Office will ask for six-and-a-half years in prison, while Gerweck’s defense attorney will argue for probation.
According to a probable cause affidavit in the case, Gerweck uploaded 32 images of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct on a networking and blogging website Tumblr.
Tumblr reported the activity to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which then contact law enforcement, according to the affidavit.
The Oregon Department of Justice investigated the case.
Gerweck will remain free on bail pending his sentencing hearing. He posted $6,400, or 10% of his bail amount, back in January 2019 to secure his release from the Linn County Jail.
Defense attorney Jason Thompson, retained by Gerweck, was not able to be contacted for comment.
Kyle Odegard can be contacted at 541-812-6077 or kyle.odegard@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @KyleOdegard.
