A teacher in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, accidentally emailed sexually explicit photos to students, and the principal is asking students not to share them.
In a letter Friday, Principal Taryn Washington told families of students enrolled at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School what happened, Fox 5 reported.
The letter read:
A Wise employee inadvertently emailed a message that included sexually explicit photos to all students. Immediate action was taken by school administrators to retract the correspondence; however, many individuals saw the photos and have since shared them with others.
I am asking that all students, as responsible online citizens, not share the photos by email, social media or other avenues. Our Mental Health Clinician and Professional School Counselors are available to provide direct support as needed to any student.
Washington also noted “appropriate steps” were taken regarding the school employee, adding the administration sincerely regrets what took place.
Social media users speculated on what happened, one writing, “I’ve definitely sent emails to the wrong person but why do you have explicit photos on the work computer. To accidentally place all the school in the TO: line you had to be on a school network comp or something.”
“So was the person was using a company laptop or something? I mean did they NOT see the name on the ‘To’ line ? That really is an egregious mistake,” another commented.
Meanwhile, WUSA 9 reported staff members say a math teacher was the individual who sent the email. He was reportedly escorted off the campus when the images began circulating.
“The teacher apparently tried to set a logo for the young Pharaoh’s Mentoring Academy, but at the bottom of the image there are at least seven sexually explicit thumbnails,” a reporter for the outlet said:
Per the Fox article, law enforcement does not plan to file charges and is no longer investigating what happened. However, “The issue will be handled internally by PGCPS [Prince George’s County Public Schools],” the outlet said.