Nude-photo sharing at school investigated

By Dana Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Nude photos that were circulated among Mount Vernon High School students via cell phones have sparked an investigation by Knox County authorities.

“What has been alleged is that students were sending nude pictures of one another to each other and sort of redistributing the pictures,” said Assistant Prosecutor Chip McConville.

District administrators learned of the photos after they caused “some distractions in the educational setting,” McConville said. He said it’s possible the photos were being viewed at school, but he declined to elaborate.

Mount Vernon Superintendent Steve Short said the incident was initially investigated as a bullying complaint but turned into something more. “I think, in my mind, a lot of things take place out of the school day and then get brought to school,” Short said.

Short said the district plans to re-evaluate its cell-phone policy, which requires students to keep phones out of sight during the school day.

“This is a developing area, obviously, because of technology, and we’ve seen lots of reports of this sort of thing all around central Ohio,” McConville said. “So how the law deals with it is still an evolving thing.”

He added: “The bottom line is, this sort of activity involving juveniles has the potential to bring charges in court.”

Source: dispatch.com/