Ousted S.C. teacher says nude photos, threats put in her mailbox
A South Carolina teacher who resigned after a student spread a nude picture of her through text messages and social media says four nude photos taken from her phone were put in her mailbox along with a threatening note.
According to CBS affiliate WSPA, Union County High School teacher Leigh Anne Arthur says the message, which was on the back of one of the photos, threatened herself and her sons. The sheriff's office is investigating, the station reported.
Arthur, 33, told news outlets she left her cellphone on her desk Monday as she monitored a hallway during a class change. A 16-year-old boy took her phone, and with his own phone took pictures of nude images of Arthur on her phone, she said.
Arthur said she took the picture to send to her husband for Valentine's Day.
But David Eubanks, interim superintendent of Union County schools, said Arthur was in the wrong because the phone was unlocked.
Eubanks said he's unsure if the student will face disciplinary action.
School officials don't know how many students saw the picture.
Arthur said she forgives the student, but believes he should be held responsible for his actions.
"We all make stupid decisions when we're 16," Arthur told WYFF-TV.
"He had the ultimate decision to take pictures of my pictures and he had the ultimate decision to send them out," she told the station.
Jacob Barnett, a student who helped start an online petition to bring Arthur back, said in an email that the teacher is not to blame for what happened.
"There is an unspoken rule of the classroom; everyone knows it, don't touch what's on the teacher's desk, or anything that belongs to anyone else," he said. "Her phone is her private property and whatever is on it is her business."