A Texas high school teacher has been removed from campus after allegedly making pornography “visible” to students during class, which made a disturbed student to report it, school officials and police said.
Police in La Porte were notified of the incident after a student was “alarmed by what they saw” on the personal laptop of a male teacher at La Porte High School on Tuesday, Sgt. Bennie Boles told the New York Post.
What Happened?
A male teacher at La Porte High School is accused of having pornography on a laptop in his classroom, and now he might face misdemeanor charges.
The teacher was barred from the classroom after a student reported seeing pornography material that was displayed on his laptop.
Kira Lackey-Thompson, a mother of one of his students, is hurt and angry after learning about the accusations.
“That is a private thing, and I understand that people have their private things that they do. It’s an adult thing,” Lackey-Thompson told KPRC. “There is a time and place. In my child’s classroom, during school hours, my child in the classroom? Not the time and place.”
La Porte Police Department told ABC13 it anticipates filing a Class C misdemeanor charge against the teacher for “obscene display or distribution.”
The penalty for the Class C misdemeanor is typically a fine of less than $500 with no jail time, Sgt. Bennie Boles said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office declined to accept another charge for “display of harmful material to a minor,” police said on Wednesday, January 16.
School officials said in a statement that the teacher had been immediately removed from the campus pending the outcome of an investigation.
“The matter was referred to the La Porte Police Department,” the statement read. “The outcome of its preliminary investigation and conversation with the District Attorney’s office is that the District Attorney is not inclined to press charges.”
The Incident Was Captured On Snapchat
According to ABC13, students at the high school are circulating a video from Snapchat which allegedly shows the incident.
In the six-second video, the teacher is seen walking away from his desk to help a student, while another student goes behind the teacher’s desk to record the teacher’s open laptop.
Lackey-Thompson, whose son did not record the teacher, also questioned whether the incident was the first time.
“How long has he been doing it?” Lackey-Thompson asked. “How many other kids have seen it and didn’t say anything? If you feel comfortable enough to watch pornography in a classroom full of underage children this is not the profession for you.”
The teacher, who was not identified by school officials, will remain on leave with pay until the probe is complete.
