Teacher Resigns After A student Stole Nude Photos From Her Phone Shares Them With His Class

A 33-year-old teacher from South Carolina has spoken out about  the ordeal she faced when a student stole nude images from her phone. Leigh Anne Arthur told Buzzfeed that she left her phone in a classroom while she monitored the halls. “At the end of the class, the student then did approach me and said, ‘Your day of reckoning is coming’”. Arthur said she didn’t heed much to the threat and assumed it was just kids being kids. Arthur explains that she had nude photos on her phone which she had taken for her husband on Valentine’s Day. She thinks the student used his own phone to take pictures of the images. The following day she discovered that the nudes were being shared on social media. “I felt mad and violated because that’s my privacy,” she said. “It definitely hurts.” While the initial reaction from the school was Arthur to lay low and stay quiet, a few days into the ordeal, the school superintendent was asking for the teacher's resignation. screenshot via wyff4 “He told me it was because I had inappropriate material on my phone and that I had made it easily accessible to students,” Arthur said. David Eubanks, the superintendent in question, says he believes had Arthur been more present in the classroom, the situation would have been avoided. “One of the most critical responsibilities that a classroom teacher has is the supervision of students. In this particular case, there was a breakdown in the classroom in that most critical area. Evidence and statements indicate that the teacher was not where she should have been at the time the incident occurred. As a result, a student accessed inappropriate material on her phone sent it to others, and as a result, also may also be severely punished by law enforcement as well as the school district. This is a case where a staff member, properly supervising students, could have prevented a very serious problem” he said. Arthur said that the school has not taken any disciplinary action against the student, but Eubanks said: “the extent of the punishment of the student will be determined by the findings of law enforcement.” Meanwhile, 1,600 people have signed a petition to have Arthur reinstated. The petition was formed by fellow students and reads: "Leigh Anne Arthur is the victim of a blatant attack of her privacy. Personal photographs were illegally obtained by a student and were sent to other students in the school(Union County High). After being escorted off of school property, we (the students) are left to believe that she has been forced to, or given little choice but to resign. Mrs.Arthur has not only shown tremendous dedication to her students, but also the mechatronics program itself, often reaching out to local businesses and colleges to get materials that would not normally be available for the class." “I know I haven’t broken any laws,” Arthur said. She further commented that it’s okay to be in a passionate relationship and that everyone has ‘inappropriate images’ on their phones. She’s determined not to be silenced. “I have to stand up for myself,” she said. “If I were just to forget about all this I would feel like a piece of dirt”. Lead image screengrab via Fox8