EL CAMPO, Texas – El Campo Independent School District fired a substitute teacher after a police investigation found that she recorded a dozen or so pornographic videos of herself inside at least one El Campo High School classroom and a teacher workroom.
The sub uploaded the videos to a public, commercial porn website, the police chief said.
Were charges filed?
Although the teacher was fired, no charges have been filed.
“We can’t find a law that she violated,” El Campo Police Chief Terry Stanphill said.
Stanphill said he consulted with the district attorney’s office and it couldn't determine that the teacher had broken any laws.
The substitute teacher was issued a criminal trespassing warning, which is all the district said it can do under the law. The district said the warning "will protect all ECISD campuses."
Where were the videos filmed?
The videos were filmed inside at least one a classroom and a teacher workroom. The teacher appeared to be alone in the videos, officials said.
The police chief said that, in one video, adult voices can be heard in the background.
Were students present?
No students were present when the videos were recorded, according to El Campo Independent School District officials.
How long was the teacher employed?
District officials said the teacher had been employed for about three months before she was fired.
What students, teachers are saying
Everyone seems to know who the teacher is.
One student said everyone is watching the videos and that the woman was a regular sub for her English classes.
An El Campo Middle School teacher who did not want to be identified said she was upset over the incident and thought that the substitute teacher's picture should be plastered all over the news so she doesn’t work at any schools again.
“As a teacher, I was just really shocked and then saddened,” said Denise Prochazka, who teaches at a nearby Catholic school. “The general reaction is just disgust and sickening, and they’re just horrified.”
What is the district saying?
The district said it found out about the videos last week, after an unidentified tipster sent one of the videos to the El Campo High School principal.
After Tuesday’s school board meeting, the district's superintendent told reporters that the district “will press charges.”
“If they don’t want her back on school property, all they have to do is tell us, and we’ll deliver a written notice that, if she goes back on school property, she’ll be arrested," the police chief said.
The criminal trespassing warning was issued and the district also said the matter is being reported to the Texas Education Agency.
El Campo ISD response:
“At ECISD, we have high standards of professional conduct, and we consider the type of behavior reported to us as unacceptable and inappropriate. We want to inform the community that we serve, that the district follows all mandated policy and procedures for hiring, including the Department of Public Safety standard background check as we do with all substitutes. The district is pursuing this incident to the extent allowable by law.
"Additionally, the district has taken steps to issue a criminal trespassing warning, which will protect all ECISD campuses. Our legal counsel is assisting us with reporting this situation to the Texas Education Agency, and we remain committed to the safety and security of our students.”