SAN DIEGO – A middle-school teacher who taught music and history for a dozen years in Tierrasanta had downloaded thousands of pieces of child pornography before investigators identified him through an Internet payment system, prosecutors said.

The teacher, Eric Don Standefer, smashed his laptop to pieces when FBI agents arrived at his Rolando home nearly two years ago. Yet authorities were able to retrieve more than 3,500 images and 60 movies involving children in sexual situations from another home computer.

On Monday, a federal judge ordered Standefer to serve five years and 10 months in prison for possessing the pornography.

Standefer, 50, taught at Jean Farb Middle School in Tierrasanta until his arrest in 2006, a San Diego school official said. He was fired last year.

Federal prosecutors and FBI agents acknowledged they did not find evidence of improper conduct between Standefer and his students.

“He was well-liked and well-respected,” said his attorney, Scott Williams. “He merely possessed the pornography. He never acted on it.”

Standefer initially pleaded not guilty and was released on bond, but he switched his plea to guilty late last year.

“It's obviously a very serious crime, and he's very sorry for what he did, but we were hoping for a chance to complete his rehabilitation,” Williams said.

Standefer was in counseling for two years and his doctors wrote letters to the judge saying he was recovering, Williams said. He was taking graphic design classes and working as a college librarian.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff ordered Standefer to register as a sex offender.

FBI agents investigating Web sites that sold child pornography identified Standefer through an online payment system, according to a court filing.

His laptop was so damaged that the hard drive could not be fully accessed, but investigators could tell that it had 519 movie files and 362 pictures on it, many with names describing child pornography.

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