FREDERICKSBURG, Pa. — A former teacher in two Central Pennsylvania school districts has been accused of sending a nude image of himself to a minor, according to State Police and school district officials.
Ryan Gibson Stewart, 47, of Jonestown, claimed to have sent the image by accident, according to police. He claimed the intended recipient of the image had a Snapchat user name similar to the victim's.
Stewart was a teacher at Northern Lebanon Middle School at the time of the alleged offense, which occurred on May 26, according to police.
He had since taken a position in the Susquehanna Township School District, but was immediately placed on leave when the allegations came to light, superintendent Dr. Tamara Willis said in a statement.
Stewart is no longer employed by the school district, Willis added.
Police began investigating when they received a Childline Report of suspected child abuse on May 30. The report claimed that a teacher and student were exchanging nude images, though the reporting person did not know the identity of the teacher or the student.
Investigators interviewed the victim at Northern Lebanon Middle School. The victim told police he received the image from Stewart on the Snapchat app. The image depicted Stewart fully nude, and the student recognized him as a teacher, according to police.
When the student replied to Stewart's Snapchat message and identified himself as one of Stewart's students, Stewart allegedly replied that he'd sent the image to the student by mistake, the student reported.
The victim told police he and Stewart had become friends on Snapchat the previous year, but had never exchanged messages before. After receiving the image, the student deleted it, but took a screen shot of a direct message conversation he had with Stewart regarding the incident.
Police interviewed Stewart on July 1, and he allegedly admitted to sending the image, but claimed it was not intended for the student. Stewart said he had recently met another person with a Snapchat profile name similar to the victim's, and that the image was intended for the other person.
Stewart is charged with disseminating explicit materials to a minor, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors, according to the complaint. He is free after posting bail of $25,000.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 26.
