A high school photography teacher is on administrative leave after students say he showed them "torture porn" videos for 20 minutes during class.

Students say an instructor at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Ariz., showed them six video clips of "torture porn, of like girls being tied up," Phoenix's ABC 15 reported.

One student said the teacher began a photography lesson by connecting his personal computer to a projector screen. The class was told to work on an assignment, and he allegedly began viewing the videos during instruction time – forgetting the projector was still connected to his laptop.

"He forgot the projector screen was turned on and he started watching porn and we were all just like sitting there shocked that he was watching this in front of the class," she said.

One student recorded the incident on a cell phone. The class tried to capture the teacher's attention to let him know pornography was playing on the projector.

But he never glanced upward from the video.

"He was just all into it, I don't even think he was paying attention to us, he was just all in his computer," the student said. "We were making comments like 'Wow, what is he watching?' and that kind of stuff but I think he was too into it to even notice."

A student said she was disgusted by the incident and questioned whether this was the first time her teacher had viewed pornography at school.

"I was just creeped out that a teacher that I have known from the beginning of the year could have been watching this the whole time we were in class," she said. "That's just gross; he'll watch it in front of kids in that school when he's supposed to be teaching."

She continued, "Just like knowing that he watched that in front of everybody it's … I wouldn't want him near me."

Administrators sent a letter home to parents stating, "13 students were inadvertently shown material inappropriate for the classroom by their teacher." The notice did not clarify what kind of "material" the class had seen.

The letter continued, "[T]he teacher was placed immediately on administrative leave and the matter was referred to the district office for a full investigation ... We have begun our efforts to find a highly qualified teacher replacement and are determined to move our Photography Program in a positive direction."

Phoenix police are investigating the incident, and a school resource officer is compiling a report that will be delivered to the Family Investigations Bureau. Detectives will decide whether to send it to the county attorney's office for prosecution.



SOURCE