TITUSVILLE, Fla. – A teacher's aide at a Titusville school is accused of sending explicit photos to a 16-year-old special needs student, according to police.
- Teacher's aide accused of sending explicit photos to 16-year-old student
- Lindsey Thorson, 27, turned herself into the Brevard County Jail
- Police said the images were of a partially nude and fully nude Thorson
Titusville police said the incident was uncovered after another student ran away. Investigators said the student ran away in mid-January, fearing he would be punished for reporting a sexual explicit image that was sent to him by another 16-year-old student.
Investigators said that led to the discovery of inappropriate messages between a teacher's aide and a student. The Instagram messages were shared between Lindsey Thorson, a teacher's aide at Fieldston Preparatory School and the special needs student, police said. According to an arrest affidavit, Thorson engaged the teen by asking, "what he wants to see." Thorson then sent pictures and video of herself partially and fully nude.
Police said they were able to identify Thorson through a tear drop pendant seen in the photos and in multiple posts on her Facebook page. Investigators also seached her bedroom on January 24 and found items seen in the explicit photos.
The teen screen-recorded the inappropriate images because "he didn't feel right about it" and needed proof of the conversation, according to police.
The student first notified a faculty member at Fieldston Preparatory School in Titusville of the incidents.
During an interview with investigators, the teen said he believes the school tried to cover up the conversations because Thorson is the assistant principal's daughter, and the assistant principal and the principal are sisters.
In a statement from Fieldston Prep, the principal said they provided their full cooperation during the investigation and that Thorson has been fired.
According to investigators, the teen said he was never alone with Thorson at school.
Thorson turned herself into the Brevard County Jail on Friday, police said. She has since bonded out.
She faces charges of transmission of materials harmful to minors and tampering with evidence.