The first person in Hawaii to face criminal charges for “sexting” was sentenced in state court Wednesday morning to five years of probation.

Cody Onizuka, 26, a former teaching assistant at Niu Valley Intermediate School, had been charged with possession of child pornography and violating a restraining order for providing a 12-year-old girl from the school a cellular telephone which she used to send him explicit pictures of herself and explicit text messages.

In a plea deal with the prosecutor, Onizuka pleaded guilty instead to harassment by stalking and to aggravated harassment by stalking. The deal guaranteed him no jail time and no requirement to register as a sex offender. 

However, Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario did order Onizuka to undergo sex offender treatment, as recommended by Onizuka’s probation officer.