Teacher accused of having porn on computer

By Brian Hassler
Staff Writer

SHIPROCK — A Shiprock teacher has been placed on administrative leave after pornography was allegedly found on his computer.

Social Studies teacher Dwight Thompson was put on paid administrative leave when it was discovered that he was viewing pornography on his computer at Shiprock High School.

Originally, Thompson was being investigated for child pornography on his computer, but authorities only found adult pornography on the hard drive, an act that is still grounds for being placed on leave until a full investigation can be done and a decision made on the future of the teacher.

Central Consolidated School District Superintendent Dr. Linda Besett confirmed that a teacher had been placed on leave because of an investigation for pornography on a school computer but wouldn't name the teacher as it is against district policy to discuss issues concerning employees with the public.

"When this sort of thing happens we place the teacher on administrative leave with pay and investigate the charges," said Besett. "We secure the computer as evidence and put it in a secure place. Then we meet with the employee, discuss the charges and produce the evidence that we have and then we allow the employee to explain what happened."

Besett added that a check was run by the district for child pornography, but that there was no evidence of that kind of content on the computer. Had child pornography been discovered when the check was run, Besett would have reported the content to the FBI and let them investigate as well.

When a school teacher is found to have pornography on a computer, punishments ranging up to termination or discharge are a possibility, and the teacher is reported to the Public Education Department. The state then decides what the appropriate punishment will be, sometimes resulting in a teacher's license being revoked or pulled for a period of time.

In CCSD, there is an employee that monitors what web sites the teachers are entering on the computer and at any given time report can be printed up that would state what sites had been visited, what time the sites had been visited and how long that site was accessed, said Besett.

"I got a phone call, and we began an investigation based on that call," said Besett. "The investigation will depend on how complicated things are but they can go anywhere from one to three days. After that, we should be able to make a decision on how to handle this situation."

Attempts to locate Thompson were unsuccessful and Shiprock High School administrators couldn't be reached for comment.

— Brian Hassler is The Independent's Four Corners reporter based in Shiprock. Contact him at (505) 360-7862 or via email at brianhassler@hotmail.com.