A Florida middle school teacher is facing deportation after being charged with allegedly showing a teenage student a nude photograph of himself and asking for one in return, according to police.
Federal Immigration officials have been notified about the arrest of Jonathan Rowe, a 45-year-old math teacher and Jamaican national, after he was arrested for showing a 15-year-old boy images of his genitals on his phone last week, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
The teenager told investigators he was in Rowe’s classroom at Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill on Tuesday last week for a planning period when he asked the teacher if he could see a photo they’d previously taken together in the classroom.
As he scrolled through the phone, Rowe would “stop on photos of what the student believed was Rowe’s genitalia,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Rowe then allegedly told the student to take the phone to the bathroom and take pictures of his own genitalia, which the boy refused.
The teacher confirmed to police that he had pictures of his genitalia on his phone but declined to say whether he showed those images to the student, police said.
Rowe was arrested at his Spring Hill home and charged with showing obscene material to a minor and unlawful use of a two-way device — both felonies in Florida.
Police notified the Department of Homeland Security and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] of Rowe’s arrest to obtain a detainer, or immigrant hold, “which starts the deportation process,” once he’s turned over to ICE, according to the sheriff’s office.
Rowe had been working in the US on a J-1 visa, which allows foreigners to enter the country for education or exchange programs.
He was booked at the Hernando County Detention Center where he’s being held on a $25,000 bond.
He was fired the day after the alleged incident and is barred from returning to the school, where he had taught in grades six through eight, according to the district.
Police said there are no other known victims at this time.
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