An American Fork Junior High School special-education teacher resigned Wednesday after 28 to 30 pornographic videos were found in ceiling tiles above the school.

The name of the teacher, a male, is not being released because it's a personnel matter, Alpine School Superintendent Vern Henshaw said.

Police do not think any students at the school viewed the videos, which did not feature children, American Fork Police Lt. Darren Falslev said.

Falslev said possession of the tapes does not constitute a crime, but added, "It was certainly things that were inappropriate for him to possess" in a school, Falslev said.

The tapes, placed inside three duffle bags, were discovered Tuesday afternoon when workers removed ceiling tiles above the school during a construction project. Classes were dismissed for the year Friday, so no students were in the building, he said.

The workers notified the school resource officer, who began a criminal investigation.

The tapes, however, did not violate the so-called "SLAPS test," a Utah law regulating indecent material, because Falslev said they were not "hard-core" porn.

The teacher bought the tapes in Utah and by mail. "There's nothing to indicate he had acquired them illegally," Falslev said.

The teacher stashed them at school because "it appears it was something he wasn't going to store at home," he said.

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Falslev said the teacher has been cooperating with the investigation.

When district officials learned of the tapes, they suspended the teacher. He later resigned.

The tapes were seized as evidence at the police department and will be burned in the next week, Falslev said.


E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com

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