Wappingers Students Found Sharing Explicit Underage Video
A video that claims to depict a student performing a lewd act has been making its way around at least four schools in the Wappingers Central School District.
The Snapchat video has reportedly been shared by students at John Jay High School, Roy C Ketcham High School, Van Wyck Jr High School and Wappingers Jr High. Superintendent Dr. Dwight Bonk sent out a message to parents on Wednesday about the concerning video.
The explicit video reportedly shows someone who appears to be a minor engaged in a "lewd act'. A description of the video claims that the child is a student in the Wappingers Central School District. After an investigation by New York State Police, it was determined that the subject of the video is, in fact, NOT a student.
School authorities are asking parents to have a discussion with their children about whether they have heard of the video and check to see if it is present on their social media accounts or phones. Having explicit underage material on a device and sharing it with others can have serious legal implications.
While having children share a video of this nature is extremely troubling, administrators say it's even more concerning that a local student is being targeted with false implications. Dr. Bonk asked parents to help put an immediate stop to the rumor.
As a parent I am sure you can imagine the emotional harm that could come from anyone being targeted by such a rumor, and the long term effects a rumor such as this could have on one of our students.
An investigation by the State Police is ongoing.