A Colorado high school football team involved in a sexting scandal was forced to forfeit its last game of the year after school officials turned up hundreds of nude photos students reportedly snapped and sent of themselves.
In a Wednesday Facebook announcement, the Cañon City School District said information regarding a "number" of students who took nude photos or photos that exposed their undergarments has been turned over to the local police department and felony charges could result from that investigation.
The discovery of the photos on cell phones resulted in school leaders deciding to forfeit the school's last football game.
"Because a large number of our high school football players were implicated in this behavior the coaching staff and administration, after careful thought and consideration, decided that stepping on the field to play this weekend to represent the Cañon City community is just not an option," the FB announcement said.
"We realize this decision will unfairly penalize many of our fine young men who clearly did not participate in these actions. However, we concluded it was impossible to safely field an entire team representative of the personal qualities and characteristics that truly represent the history of the Cañon City High School football program."
The school district announcement specified that individuals involved could be charged with a class 3 felony if they took a nude photo of themselves and sent it to someone else (technically the dissemination of child pornography); if they received a photo and forwarded it to someone else; or if they received the photo and "retained possession of it over time."
The Associated Press reported that hundreds of photos were found, and that some students were using apps on their phones to hide the nude photos.
On Thursday, the Cañon City School District announced on Facebook it would hold a forum for parents and students to offer information about what occurred. No media outlets will be allowed to attend out of respect for student privacy.
"LOL now you want to respect privacy. After putting our school on blast LOL laughable," one parent commented on the post.
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