New York teacher compelled 7th graders to view deranged pornographic images, damning lawsuit claims

The conservative legal outfit American Center for Law and Justice filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against a public school district in New York after a teacher allegedly subjected seventh graders to pornographic materials on multiple occasions.

The complaint, filed on behalf of two parents and their minor children, alleges that "under the guise of an art lesson," Bridgette Gates — a teacher with the Watertown City School District who "resigned as an art teacher, ... was rehired as an English teacher, and remains on administrative leave," according to Syracuse.com — intentionally exposed around 100 students to "pornographic and sexually explicit imagery over a two-week period in September 2025, without providing any advance notice to parents or offering an opportunity to opt out."

'It's almost criminal.'

According to the complaint, Gates directed her students at Case Middle School to visit the gallery on the Keith Haring Foundation website using their school-issued Chromebooks during class time.

At the time of publication, the gallery contained various sexually explicit images and images of bodily mutilation, including multiple cartoons and paintings depicting men masturbating; a cartoon depicting a man with a fist-tipped penis; a cartoon depicting a man being choked by his penis; a painting mocking the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, depicting him with an erection and impaled by multiple airplanes; a painting of a character with a mouth in the place of an anus; and a painting of a penis wearing a wig.

The deviant agitprop was created by Keith Haring, a hallucinogenic drug-abusing homosexual activist who died of AIDS-related complications in 1990.

A spokesperson for the Haring Foundation told Artnet that it is aware of the conservative group's response to the alleged incident at the school and acknowledged that some of Haring's images may be inappropriate for some audiences.

The lawsuit alleges that Gates acknowledged that "some of the images were inappropriate" yet told her 12- and 13-year-old students to "ignore them and be mature." Gates allegedly continued showing the images to kids despite signs of unease and resistance.

RELATED: Elementary school teacher allegedly possessed thousands of files of child sex abuse material

Photo by Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images

After learning of the content in late September, concerned parents contacted the teacher, school administrators, and local law enforcement.

Stephanie Boyanski, a plaintiff as well as the parent of one of the plaintiff students, told WWNY-TV in September, "It's almost unbelievable."

"It's almost criminal," said Heather Trainham, another parent.

Plaintiff parent Jessy Roberts noted that her son "knew it was inappropriate, but he wasn't sure if he should speak out or not, because they're of authority."

'Schools are not free to override that authority or to "correct" the family’s moral instruction.'

In the face of parental backlash and concerns raised at school-board meetings, Gates was reportedly placed on paid administrative leave, the assignment link was removed from Google Classroom, and the district admitted to parents that students had "come across inappropriate content." There was, however, no apology from the district.

The ACLJ sent a letter on Nov. 21 to Larry Schmiegel, superintendent of the school district, stating that "because of the District's lax monitoring of its curriculum and teachers, and its deliberate choice to shield the teacher from accountability, the harm done to Mses. Boyanski and Roberts' children is irreparable and ongoing."

The legal group demanded that Gates be issued a formal reprimand; that the school adopt a policy not to show children sexually explicit content without parental notification and to provide an opt-out if future curriculum includes such content; and to provide counseling for kids impacted by the images — and provided the district with a Dec. 1 deadline to act.

The lawsuit filed this week requests that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York declare that the school violated parents' First and 14th Amendment rights; bar the district from repeating its error; require the district to implement age-appropriate safeguards; and award damages for the alleged constitutional violations.

The district did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

"Parents should not be forced to choose between public education and their family’s values. The Constitution draws a bright line: Parents, not the state, decide how and when their children are introduced to sexual content," the ACLJ said in a release. "Schools are not free to override that authority or to 'correct' the family’s moral instruction through compulsory exposure to explicit material. When officials discard that line, the courts must restore it."

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