LISBON –The retired Lisbon teacher sentenced to 25 years in prison for possessing multiple images of children engaged in sexual acts filed an appeal Tuesday with the Seventh District Court of Appeals.

James W. Watt, 69, Fairfield School Road, Columbiana, appeared for sentencing last month in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court after entering guilty pleas in October 2025 to 30 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, a fourth-degree felony, and 15 counts of illegal use of minor or impaired person in a nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth-degree felony. As part of the plea deal, another 30 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity were dismissed.

Attorney Edward Czopur filed the appeal for Watt to challenge the plea and the sentence. The summary of probable issues for review were that the guilty plea was not knowingly, intelligently and/or voluntarily made and that the sentence was contrary to law.

When Watt entered the plea, Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton reviewed everything with him regarding the possible terms. She followed the recommendation of the prosecutors for the sentence. Watt’s defense team of Daniel Misiewicz, Bruce Williams and Christine Falconer had requested community control for Watt, talking about his teaching career and how past students and parents wrote letters of support. He retired from the Lisbon school district in May 2024 after 43 years as an educator. He also served as a former track and cross country coach.

Bickerton, though, said the seriousness of the crime was high and she believed there was a chance for recidivism.

Based on a tip about Watt from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force regarding alleged images of child pornography, there was a search of his home on Oct. 22, 2024 and there were tens of thousands of images on 18 electronic devices.

County Assistant Prosecutor Steve Yacovone told the court that besides the large number of images of children engaged in sex acts, investigators discovered a nude image of a teen girl that was actually one of Watt’s former students, a 15-year-old, that they tracked down. She told investigators she didn’t give him the photo and how he got it was unknown.