Union County – A 16-year-old student stole and shared through texts and on social media nude photos of his teacher in Union, South Carolina, who had taken them for her husband for Valentine’s Day, which put an end to her career after 13 years.
Leigh Ann Arthur was on hall patrol duty for five minutes in between classes and left her unlocked phone on her desk on February 19. The teenager grabbed the phone and found the very private photos, as reported by NBC News and WSPA.
The teacher told WSPA that the student took pictures from his cell phone of her screen and then told everyone in the class that he would share them with whoever wanted them. “Your day of reckoning is coming,” the boy told her after class, but she didn’t understand the sentence at the moment.
Superintendent David Eubanks told WYFF that the student did share the photos through texts and on social media. He added that authorities let her decide between resigning or going through a process for dismissal. She chose to resign last Tuesday.
The teacher is still going to defend her privacy
Eubanks told the State that he believed people had the right to privacy, but everyone with inappropriate information or pictures should make sure it remains private. Arthur says the student has not been expelled or punished for what he did and the teacher is planning to press charges against the student. In addition, she has complained to the Union Public Safety Department, which is leading an investigation.
School authorities are ignoring the premise of the invasion of her privacy and that is what is wrong, Arthur said. About 1,000 people have signed a petition to have her job at Union restored, but she said she is not sure if she would end up taking it back.
The teacher said she would like to tell the student, as reported by CBS News,: “I hope that you have a wife one day that you treat like gold and you won’t want this to ever happen to her.”
Source: CBS News