TAMPA, Fla. — A former Hillsborough County teacher was sentenced on child porn and animal crush video charges Thursday.
Kenneth Griffin could barely get the words out as he tearfully asked the judge for mercy.
“I’m not a monster, your honor. I’m not a predator,” Griffin told her. “I understand it was wrong. I do 100 percent understand that.”
Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell sentenced him to nine years in prison. After his prison time, Griffin will be on supervised release for 15 years.
He’ll have to register as a sex offender and won’t be allowed near a school ever again.
10 Investigates reported on July 27 that Kenneth Jermaine Griffin agreed to a plea deal – pleading guilty to one count of distribution of child porn and one count of possession of child porn.
In July, we talked to a mom who says her son was in those images.
“He’s been diagnosed with PTSD,” that mother told 10 Investigates reporter Jenna Bourne. “He cannot be alone with a male. He’s tried to commit suicide twice.”
Griffin also pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of an animal crush video – that’s video of animals being sexually abused.
As part of Griffin’s plea deal, four other counts of child porn and animal crush video charges were dropped.
More than a decade before Griffin was booked into jail, he was a teacher at Hillsborough County Public Schools.
The state permanently revoked his Florida educator certificate in November 2011 after he was accused of sending sexual messages to a student.
State law says that means a person can’t teach or have any job requiring direct contact with students at any district school board or public school in Florida.
But 10 Investigates exposed in July that Griffin went on to get at least six more jobs in education, including two teaching jobs.
Most recently, he was a teacher at Academy Prep Center of Tampa.
You don’t need to have an educator certificate to teach in a Florida private school.
Head of School L’Tanya Evans told 10 Investigates that Griffin was fired in January 2022, after Homeland Security told the private school about the federal investigation that led to his arrest in April.