Parents react after substitute teacher allegedly shows inappropriate photo to student

TIPP CITY — Parents are reacting after a high school substitute teacher allegedly showed an inappropriate photo to a student.

Tippecanoe High School Principal Dan Barnes informed parents of the incident on Feb. 9.

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According to case files obtained by News Center 7, long-term substitute James Hoke told police he was showing historical photos to a student on his personal iPad, he claimed he walked away for a bit and the student kept looking and stumbled upon a photo of Hoke’s genitals.

The student told police that Hoke was scrolling through photos on the iPad when they saw the inappropriate photo, the student claimed Hoke continued to scroll as if he didn’t see it.

The student in question reported the incident to the school administration and Hoke was removed from the school. The student’s parents and police were notified.

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One of Heaven North’s kids is a student at Tippecanoe High School. She can’t understand why Hoke ever used a personal iPad on school property.

“It’s a place for school, maybe not necessarily your personal documents, your personal pictures and things,” North said.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott went to Hoke’s home, where he said what happened was an accident and he plans to plead guilty in court next week.

North said she is happy the district had Hoke leave the school immediantly. She couldn’t imagine one of her kids coming home and telling her they saw a photo like that at school.

“I guess that would be devastating,” North said. “I try to keep my kids pretty protected and you know, aware of things that are age-appropriate, and for somebody to share something that wouldn’t necessarily be something that I would want to share with my child. I wouldn’t want someone to take that right from me.”

Hoke was charged with the first-degree misdemeanor “Disseminating Matter Harmful to Juveniles” and will appear in court on Feb. 20.

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