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Massachusetts Teacher Accused Of Soliciting Nude Photos From Student On Snapchat
Dorothy Bancroft Veracka, 42, a teacher at Nashoba Regional High School, allegedly exchanged lewd Snapchat messages with a 15-year-old student.
A high school teacher in Massachusetts is in hot water over allegations she solicited erotic images from a 15-year-old student on Snapchat.
Dorothy Bancroft Veracka is accused of receiving a number of nude photos from a 15-year-old male student between September 2018 and March 2019, according to a police incident report obtained by Oxygen.com. She has been charged with possession of child pornography, distributing obscene matter to a minor, and posing or exhibiting a nude child.
The student, who submitted to a Sexual Assault Intervention Network interview, told law enforcement that the 42-year-old educator had “actively solicited nude photos to be sent to her from him,” authorities said.
“[The student] provided evidence of the nude photos depicting Dorothy Bancroft Veracka, as well as a text conversation between the two via Snapchat that he saved,” the police report stated.
When Veracka was later questioned, she seemed to corroborate the teen’s claims. She allegedly admitted she had received “photos from 15-year-old male depicting his nude penis,” according to the incident report.
However, Veracka’s lawyer, Frank McNamara Jr., blasted the charges, and said his client, a mother of three, has no previous criminal record.
“There was no physical contact between the parties involved,” McNamara Jr. told Oxygen.com. “Absolutely zero — nowhere in the charges is there any allegation of any improper physical contact between the parties involved. The allegations do not contain any suggestion that that occurred. This isn’t your standard teacher-student, lurid, sensationalist case that one reads about in the tabloids.”
Veracka was placed on administrative leave from her teaching duties on Sept. 30, according to WCVB-TV.
"This is an ongoing personnel matter that I can't comment on at this time," superintendent Brooke Clenchy said in a statement to the local news outlet.
Despite the allegations, Veracka seemed to be well-liked by Nashoba Regional High School students.
"She was a normal teacher and she was a really good teacher,” recalled student Jacob Belsanti in an interview with WCVB-TV. "One day, she just didn't show up to school, but we didn't think anything of it."
"You see stuff every once in a while, like on the news, but you never really think that it can happen to your school," student Rocco Didomenico also told the local outlet.
Neighbors described the teacher as a “very caring person,” according to New England Cable News.
Police said they’re now working with Snapchat officials to complete a data forensics analysis of all the allegedly salacious content exchanged between the teacher and student.
“We’re waiting for several search warrants to be completed,” lieutenant Everett Moody told Oxygen.com.
It’s unclear, he said, when the results of those warrants may come back.
“That’s the million dollar question,” Moody added. “We’re at their mercy. We have absolutely no idea. They have been submitted to them, they have acknowledged that they have them, but we don’t have a timeline.”
Veracka was arraigned on Tuesday and was released without bail on her own recognizance. She’s pled not guilty. Her pre-trial court appearance is set for Nov. 26 in Clinton District Court, according to court clerks.
The Massachusetts educator is prohibited from having any contact with the teen and must stay away from Nashoba Regional High School.
