A former Isle of Wight Academy teacher pleaded guilty on May 21 in Isle of Wight County Circuit Court to three felony counts of producing child pornography.

Zachary Hinz, 38, is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 13 pending the completion of a pre-sentence report. Under the terms of his plea agreement, the length of Hinz’ prison term will be “in the sole discretion of the court.” Hinz will also be required to add his name to the state sex offender registry and “submit to regular sexual offender polygraphs as required under supervised probation and undergo sexual abuse treatment,” according to court records.

Hinz pleaded guilty to three first-offense counts of violating Virginia Code 18.2-374.1, which pertains to the production, publication, sale or financing of child pornography. 

The Isle of Wight County grand jury that indicted him on May 9 found probable cause to support one first-offense charge and two second-offense counts. The difference between first- and second-offense counts could shave a few years off Hinz’ sentence.

A first-offense count carries a 3- to 30-year sentence if the child is over age 15 and the offender is at least 7 years older than the victim, and a 5- to 30-year term if the child is under 15. Subsequent offenses carry a 10- to 30-year term if the child is over 15, and 15 to 40 years if the child is under 15.

Hinz was arrested at IWA on Dec. 12 as a result of an investigation the Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office conducted in coordination with the multijurisdictional Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The criminal complaint states the investigation began when a Richmond City Police Department detective notified the Sheriff’s Office that an account with the screen name “97zaddy” on the social media messenger app Kik had uploaded three images police say depict juvenile males engaged in sexual conduct. The criminal complaint claims police were able to trace the account to an email address and IP address associated with Hinz.  

According to court records, Hinz confessed to possessing between 10 and 60 images of child pornography on his cellphone.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a news release the day of Hinz’s arrest that the evidence at the time indicated no students at IWA were harmed or exploited, and no images of children attending IWA were in Hinz’s possession.

Hinz remains in custody at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.