A Teacher Was Forced to Resign After a Student Stole Her Phone and Found Nude Photos

A South Carolina teacher says she was forced to resign after a 16-year-old student took her phone and found private nude photos intended for her husband, WSPA-TV reports.

Leigh Anne Arthur was out of the classroom to monitor the halls when a student took her phone, found it was unlocked, and found the photos. The student then shared them on social media and texted them to friends. He then told her, "your day of reckoning is coming." The school district asked her to resign the following Tuesday, even though there was no official policy about "inappropriate material" on teachers' cell phones.

"I think we have a right to privacy, but when we take inappropriate information or pictures, we had best make sure it remains private," David Eubanks, interim superintendent of Union County Schools, told The State. He also told the New York Times that students had used Arthur's phone in the past for schoolwork, so it wasn't unusual for them to get ahold of it. 

Arthur said she forgives the student, but he ultimately knew what he was doing and should be the one punished, not her. "He had the ultimate decision to take pictures of my pictures and he had the ultimate decision to send them out," she told WYFF-TV. "He had to hit my apps button and to open up all my apps and then open my gallery." The school district says the student is still being investigated and may also be punished.

A petition to bring the teacher back, started by several students, has received more than 3,000 signatures. "Leigh Anne Arthur is the victim of a blatant attack of her privacy," the petition reads. "The circumstances in which Mrs.Arthur was let go is unacceptable, and must be corrected."