A teacher at Lakeview Technology Academy in Pleasant Prairie has been charged after allegedly showing nude photos of a man to a student.
Meiranda A. Patterson, 26, was talking with a 14 and 15-year-old student about an upcoming dance on Oct. 25 when one of the students asked to see a picture of her date, according to the criminal complaint.
Patterson then showed both students a photo of a man's bicep on her phone. She continued scrolling through photos and told the 15-year-old student to step back while she showed another photo to the 14-year-old.
Patterson told the 14-year-old not to tell anyone, and then showed her a photo of a nude male in a mirror that portrayed the torso area of his body, including his pubic area.
The student said she was disgusted when Patterson showed her the photo, but didn't say anything to her about it at the time.
When asked about the incident, Patterson said that she didn't think anything of it in the moment because she was thinking of the 14-year-old student as a friend, not a student, but said she now realized it was a bad thing to have done, according to the criminal complaint.
In an interview with police, the student said Patterson has made her uncomfortable in previous conversations about "weird sexual things." She said she estimated that Patterson has had seven to eight sexual conversations with her since the summer of 2019 about meeting people on online dating websites and other things.
Patterson has been charged with one count of exposing a child to harmful material. She could be charged up to $10,000 and/or imprisoned up to three years if convicted.
