A Jamaican teacher is behind bars and facing the possibility of being deported to the island after allegedly showing nude photos of himself to one of his students in Florida, United States.
Jonathan Rowe, 45, a math teacher at Explorer K-8, is charged with distributing obscene material to a minor and using a two-way device during the commission of a felony.
According to US media reports, a 15-year-old student told police that he was in Rowe’s class, and asked the teacher to see a photo they had recently taken together.
Rowe, the teen alleged, began scrolling through images on his phone while occasionally pausing on what appeared to be photos of his genitalia.
The student reported that Rowe then asked him to take his phone into the bathroom and take pictures of his own genitalia to show the teacher, which he said he refused to do.
Investigators reported that Rowe admitted to having nude photos on his phone during an interview but declined to state whether he had showed them to the student.
Rowe was reportedly terminated from his teaching job last Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Hernando County School District stating that he “will not be allowed to return” to the school district.
On Monday he was arrested at his Spring Hill, Florida home and charged.
Rowe is reportedly working in the United States on a J-1 visa, which allows foreigners to enter the country for educational or exchange programmes.