Byline: Curt Brown; Staff Writer
Despite his insistence that he has never viewed child pornography, Al Oertwig resigned Thursday from the St. Paul school board as police investigated whether he recently viewed homosexual child porn on a public library computer.
"If I allow this to go on, it's going to become a public circus at school board meetings," Oertwig said. "This is an offensive allegation that is totally ungrounded. Even though I'm innocent, it's going to take a good amount of time to make that clear."
He has not been charged in the incident, and may never be. But it's not the first time that the unconventional Oertwig, 62, has drawn attention outside his school board duties.
In 1990 he advertised for a roommate, using fliers printed on his school board campaign stationery and distributing them in several gay bars. Two years ago his late-night activities mystified so many colleagues and neighbors that some suspected he was living in his school board office, which he denied.
School board Chairwoman Elona Street-Stewart said she and Oertwig agreed Wednesday night that his resignation would spare the school district from enduring "great public scrutiny ... that could become an interference.
"It didn't take much time until we realized the resignation would be the first response," Street-Stewart said. "It would mean what happens with the investigation could be put in an envelope - that he has already resigned - in advance of whatever is disclosed later."
With Oertwig's fifth term due to end this year, the board can appoint an interim successor or leave the seat vacant until it's filled in the fall election.
According to a brief police report, police were dispatched on the afternoon of March 30 to Metropolitan State University on the East Side "to investigate a library patron who was viewing homosexual child porn." The suspect, who is not named in the report, left before officers arrived. They took the computer for evidence.
Police spokesman Tom Walsh said investigators will continue to investigate that case, but he declined to confirm that Oertwig was the target, as reported Thursday in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
"Right now, we don't even have any confirmation that a crime was committed," Walsh said.
Oertwig said he routinely uses some of the 14 public computers at the four-year-old university and community library near his East Side home. "It's likely I probably was there," on March 30, he said, because he'd been using the library computers daily.
"But I have never involved myself in any illegal activity and I have zero interest in child pornography," he said.
David Barton, library dean at Metro State, said the university's library doesn't have filters to block porn sites. But library cardholders must agreed to follow rules that forbid, among other things, viewing child pornography whenever they swipe their cards to gain access. Library security cameras only show people coming and going through the front door.
`Hard to prosecute'
Conviction rates are high in many Internet child porn cases, but those successfully prosecuted usually involve seizing home computers as evidence, according to David Finkelhor, the director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.
"This case will be very hard to prosecute because it's in a library and there are dozens of people using those computers," Finkelhor said.
FBI agents arrested a Minneapolis man in January who faces federal charges of possessing child pornography, but officers observed him viewing and printing the illegal images.
Oertwig said Thursday that he has had no contact with police or the university. "I have no clue whether any charges will be brought," he said.
But, he added, "In order to make sure the school board's work remains focused on kids, I need to step aside and get out of the way."
Asked whether he worries that people will assume that's an admission of guilt, Oertwig said: "I hope anybody would think about what chaos this would create for the district if I continue sitting there."
Oertwig was first elected in 1983, when one-third of St. Paul students were members of minorities, mostly black. Now, 70 percent of the district's students are minority members, with Asian students making up the largest group.
"I think we have managed that transition quite well and have some of the best programs in the nation for English language learning," Oertwig said.
He has been involved in many state and national education panels and said he's proud of making significant contributions.
"This is hardly a time to be bragging," he said. "It's a sad way to end a long career."
His tenure, which included a stint as chairman in the 2002-03 school year, was interrupted with one election defeat, in 1991. It has also included some controversy.
Openly gay for many years, he apologized in 1990 for "inappropriate use" of his school board position when he sought a roommate using fliers printed on his campaign stationery. But he rejected calls for his resignation then, saying they were based more on the fact that he was gay than for his use of the stationery.
Two years ago, a Star Tribune profile reported that Oertwig had spent most of his nights at his school district office. He denied that he was homeless and living at the office, saying he spent the nights there working on school board business.
After leaving a job in the state Department of Human Services in the mid-1990s, Oertwig has been mostly unemployed except for his school board job. In the Star Tribune story from 2005, Oertwig said he had recently started using the computer at the public libraries, or Byerly's, to work and receive messages.
"Al has been very helpful to the district and public education as a whole," said Kazoua Kong-Thao, the school board's vice chairwoman. "The allegation is very serious, but not having additional information, I'm not sure what to make of it."
School board Member Tom Goldstein said all board members have expressed sadness over Oertwig's departure. And Street-Stewart, the board's chairwoman said: "It's very frustrating to realize that he would be exiting under these kinds of circumstances."
Staff writer Howie Padilla contributed to this report.
Curt Brown - 651-298-1542
THE LETTER
Oertwig's resignation letter, sent Thursday to Elona Street-Stewart, St. Paul school board chairwoman.
Dear Elona,
It is with great regret that I am announcing my resignation from the St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education effective on this date.
Yesterday evening I was contacted by the St. Paul Pioneer Press regarding allegations against me. Since I've had no other contact, it is difficult to know how to respond.
Let me assure you that I have not viewed child pornographic materials anywhere.
The mere existence of allegations, however, can seriously damage the work of the school district, and the good work that Meria Carstarphen and other staff are doing must not be sidetracked by a lengthy debate about this issue.
For the sake of the good of the district and the students we serve, I am therefore submitting my resignation effective immediately.
With Appreciation for Your Good Work,
Al Oertwig
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