High school teacher mistakenly emails message containing sexually explicit photos to all students: report

A Maryland high school teacher mistakenly emailed a message containing sexually explicit photos to all students, WTTG-TV reported.

What are the details?

Taryn Washington — principal of Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro — sent a letter Friday to families of students saying an "employee inadvertently emailed a message that included sexually explicit photos to all students," the station said.

The letter added that school administrators took "immediate action" to "retract the correspondence" — but "many individuals saw the photos and have since shared them with others," WTTG added.

The principal also asked "that all students, as responsible online citizens, not share the photos by email, social media outlets, or other avenues," the letter stated, according to the station.

The letter also said "our Mental Health Clinician and Professional School Counselors are available to provide direct support as needed to any student," WTTG noted.

The Prince George's County Police Department isn't planning to file charges and is no longer investigating the matter, WTTG added, noting that Prince George’s County Public Schools will handle the incident.

"Appropriate steps have been taken regarding the employee," Washington's letter added, according to the station. "We sincerely regret this incident."

WTTG said the principal's letter didn't provide details about the employee who sent the email or what may have led to the inclusion of the sexually explicit photos or when the email was sent.

Anything else?

In a video report from WTTG about the incident — during which some audio appears to have been cut — a reporter referred to a "symbol" apparently seen onscreen for the Young Pharaohs Mentoring Academy Inc. and added that it's a "program this teacher either works [with] or leads, according to several people I spoke with."

The reporter also said "it looks like that image was taken by a screen grab, because on bottom of it you see a photo roll, and that appears to show other photos or images contained on a device like a cellphone or a tablet, and it's in that photo roll ... where you see the multiple sexually explicit images."

The reporter also said she spoke to a senior at the high school who defended the individual who sent the email, saying it's a teacher he works with in the mentoring program.

Appearing off camera, the student said the teacher is a "very nice guy" and "mistakes happen" in life and that some of his peers should have "more of an adult mindset" and "see [that] the good outweighs the bad."

The reporter added that a parent asked how a teacher can have access to all students in an email while no other adults are on that email chain.

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