Student Sues School for Damages in Sexting Case

The student alleges a violation of her constitutional rights, in a civil suit filed last week that could serve as a cautionary tale to other officials considering punishing students over risque self-portraits.

In the complaint filed in a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, the former student — identified only as “N.N.” — accuses former District Attorney George P. Skumanick, Jr., principal Gregory Ellsworth, the Tunkhannock School District and Wyoming County of violating her constitutional rights (.pdf). The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

The complaint alleges that officials had no probable cause to seize and search her phone, and violated her privacy and her right to free expression by punishing her for storing nude and semi-nude photos of herself on her phone.

The plaintiff, now 19 years old, was a student at Tunkhannock Area High School in January 2009 when school officials, who discovered that male students had been trading photos of female students showing them in various states of undress, confiscated and searched the phones of her and several other students. Officials then turned the phones over to the district attorney’s office, which began a criminal investigation.

Then-District Attorney Skumanick, who lost his bid for a sixth term last year, threatened about 16 students — three boys and 13 girls — who either appeared in the images or were found in possession of them with child porn charges unless they agreed to six months of probation, submitted to drug testing and attended a five-week, 10-hour education program to discuss why what they did was wrong. He gave the parents of the students 48 hours to agree to the terms. The plaintiff is now suing the school and county for illegal search and for forcing her to take the educational program.