The King County Prosecuting Attorney has filed a possession of child pornography charge against Whitman Middle School teacher Timothy Daniel Sheehan.

In a letter to parents and guardians, dated June 1, Whitman Middle School Principal Robert Kogane said the "current allegations do not involve any of our students. The staff member (Sheehan) is on administrative leave and is neither in the classroom nor at the school.

"We are drawing on expert advice to determine how best to support our students and families," Kogane said.

If convicted, Sheehan, 50, could face up to one year in jail. He will be arraigned on June 12.

Dan Donohoe, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office said a judge could hand down a maximum sentence of five years.

"It's a disturbing allegation against the defendant," said Donohoe, adding the fact Sheehan is a teacher adds to the seriousness of the charge.

A woman who dated Sheehan from January to May contacted the police which began the investigation that lead the allegations.

The woman told police Sheehan would fantasize about some of his current and past students. She said Sheehan made explicit and detailed statements regarding young boys and things he would do to them. According to the report, Sheehan showed the woman pictures on his laptop computer.

Detective Malinda Wilson and Sgt. Ed Striedinger contacted Sheehan on May 21 at Whitman Middle School, where he teaches video production. He was escorted to the Seattle Police Department headquarters to be interviewed.

Officers told Sheehan a search warrant was being executed at his residence and was told what items they were looking for, including files on his laptop. Police said Sheehan was cooperative.

Sheehan told police the woman initiated the sexual discussion between them. He said he went along with it because she was into it. Sheehan told police he could not understand why the woman would say such a thing about him.

"Mr.Sheehan stated that he was bi-sexual and that we could find adult gay porn on the computer but was adamant that there would be no child pornography," the charging papers said.

Sheenhan told the officers the laptop was in his classroom. When the interview was finished, detectives went with Sheehan to the school to retrieve the laptop. Sheehan signed a consent form allowing the police to search contents of the laptop and a hard drive.

Detective Timothy Luckie, a Seattle police computer forensics examiner, examined the laptop and found 338 images, the majority of which showed boys ages five to 18 years old in what was described as "child erotica." Approximately 39 of the images met the legal definitions of child pornography according to the report. The report provided detailed and graphic descriptions of some of the images that support the charges filed against Sheehan.

The state is requesting bail in the amount of $10,000 and an order to prohibit Sheehan from contacting minors. The state is also requesting that the court prohibit Sheehan from using the Internet. Court papers say Sheehan "remains a danger to any child he meets."