Texas teachers may be aware of the case of a high school principal in another state who had a lot at stake when he was charged with a sex offense regarding nude images of a student. The case made national news headlines, and although the judge ruled in the principal’s favor, many people believe that his reputation in the community is tarnished forever. The incident reportedly began when the principal discovered that students in his school were sexting.
Sexting is a colloquial term that refers to sending sexually explicit messages or images through cellphone communication. In this case, the principal discovered that students were exchanging nude images. He said that he saved the images to his work phone and uploaded them to a secure file on the school’s computer.
Prosecutors accused the principal of sex offenses
In Colorado, which is where the incident occurred, it is illegal to possess nude images of minors on a cellphone. This law was the basis for criminal charges that were filed against the principal. After reviewing evidence and hearing testimony, the judge dismissed the case, finding that the principal had good intentions when he saved the images, which were to report the students’ sexting to school administrators and the parents of the students involved.
The parents of the student whose nude image was saved on the principal’s phone did not agree with the criminal charges that were filed. They believe he was merely trying to do the right thing and had saved the images as evidence. School officials testified that the computer file containing the images was never accessed after the file was created. Anyone in Texas who faces accusations of being a sex offender will want to secure experienced criminal defense support to help mitigate the circumstances as much as possible.