A high school student from North Carolina accused of “catfishing” her teacher on Grindr and then sharing his nude photos with classmates has been found not guilty.
According to the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, 16-year-old Brittney Renee Luckenbaugh and her friend, Brian Joshua Anderson, obtained the teacher’s picture after misrepresenting themselves on Grindr.
Luckenbaugh created a fake profile pretending to be a 19-year-old man. Then she looked for her French teacher on Grindr. Upon discovering him, she struck up a conversation. The chatted a bit before moving over the Snapchat.
After getting the teacher to send her three naughty photos of himself, Luckenbaugh forwarded the images to Anderson, who then shared it with five other students.
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Related: Grindr catfish reveals what made him lie to get your private pics
As a result, the teacher was suspended without pay then reassigned to another school where, he says, “the only way to communicate with a student was through a camera.”
During testimony, he called the entire situation “very distressing.”
To add insult to injury, the teacher was then forced defend his use of the app to the court.
“Grindr is a dating site and a hook up site,” he testified. “I was using it for more than a hook up site. I’m too old to play. I was looking for more than that.”
Lawyer Matt Silva, who represented Luckenbaugh, said the state couldn’t prove she intended to humiliate her teacher. He also argued that the man didn’t have a right to privacy after sending images to a stranger.
In the end, the judge sided with Luckenbaugh, who broke down sobbing on her mother’s shoulder after hearing the not guilty verdict.
Afterwards, Silva told media, “There are no winners in this situation. My client did not intend to have those pictures circulated around the school and we hope everyone can move on past this horrible situation.”
Related: Confessions Of Catfish Bait: What It’s Like To Have Your Selfie Used As Someone Else’s Profile Pic
Aires the Ram
She should have been punished. Now she, and other students, know that they can do this sort of thing with impunity. Good move.
ChrisK
Isn’t it against the law to circulate private photo’s of someone without their consent?
I’m sure the bitch did it to help find the teacher find a date. This verdict is pure BS. Of coarse I’m not shocked considering where it happened. Head slap.
ChrisK
Actually the name for it is Revenge Porn.
dinard38
Yeah this is straight up BS.
I’m confused. I thought there were some rules about minors being in possession of nude photos of an adult. I tried to research this, but the laws are kind of vague. It would definitely have been against the law if the pics were of a minor, but it’s not so clear if the pics are of an adult.
But beyond that, what about the fact that this teenager misrepresented herself and posed as an adult on an site designed for adults. Were there not any laws broken there? What’s the point of having age restrictions on these “dating” sites if there are no consequences for violating them? I’ve read many articles where an adult…mostly gay men….were arrested and charged with statutory rape for having sex with a teenager who lied about his age on the dating site. Doesn’t matter if the teen misrepresented himself by lying about his age and having consensual sex with the adult. The adult is culpable. That’s not right, and the laws need to be changed.
sarabarnett4564
Stay at home mom Kelly Richards from New York after resigning from her full time job managed to average from $6000-$8000 a month from freelancing at home… This is how she done it
??????
Brian
Revenge pen is posting stuff on the internet. This is just kids being assholes. But the verdict was correct. If you send naked pics to strangers, sight unseen, this is the type of thing you’re risking. Half the people on Grindr are misrepresenting themselves in one way or another, they may be 20 pounds heavier, they may be 10 years older, or they may really be a 16 year old girl.
Bob LaBlah
ChrisK, these two now have a sense of superiority and invincibility that they can do anything and get away with it. The kid who shoots another kid, steals cars and merchandise from stores and has never been punished for it sooner or later find out the hard way that there is a penalty life hands out for such actions.
I can’t for the life of me blame the teacher. We live in a society where gay bars are closing left and right and because of the locations a lot of gay men live in just about the only way of meeting someone is online. I advise having a conversation with the person after the second or third text message and if they refuse or for some reason can’t then consider that a flag that something IS wrong. Aren’t you going to talk face to face or is the plan to keep on texting each other while sitting on the same couch in the same house or apartment?
ChrisK
Lastly, she looks smug and the total type to do something like that. What a total C&nt.
JaredMacBride
No one who sends nudes of themselves to a total stranger they know only through a hook-up app has any expectation of privacy. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
Bearinphx
That’s correct. And if you have anything you DON”T want shared with the entire world, DO NOT PUT IT ON THE INTERNET, OR send it to someone via the internet. Once it’s out of your hands, it belongs to the world, and anyone can view it.
Sam6969
The judgement of the male student, who sent the pictures to other people, is still pending.
“As a result, the teacher was suspended without pay then reassigned to another school where, he says, “the only way to communicate with a student was through a camera.” ”
>this relate to a quote back in april 2017. I hope he recovered his full position after the online petition. Otherwise, it would be unfair (he is 51 and well appreciated by his students, that would be cruel).
JamJewel
Don’t you know by now that Queerty would only publish the most salacious version of the story? 1) David Laughinghouse was reassigned to a classroom with a camera at the same school. 2) David Laughinghouse, who started at SHS in 2002 and has been an educator for 28 years, has returned to the school as a French teacher.
He BGB
Are you sure that’s not a photo of Breckin Meyer in the top right corner? 😉
TheGregoryProject
Don’t worry, the social media clapback she’s going to get from this verdict is going to be punishment enough.
seaguy
They don’t pay teachers enough to have to put up with this kind of intrusion into their personal life and then the deceitful brat gets off scott free, that is not right!
Notright
Teachers make good money! Especially if you add up the benefits plus pension
Brian
@Notright Teachers make all kinds of different salaries/contracts. Some paid well, some paid unfairly. Some are permanent, some are temp. Some have tenure, some will never be eligible for tenure. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Fools like you are the problem. You’re trying for the hot takes without understanding anything.
DCguy
Notright Said……
“””Teachers make good money! Especially if you add up the benefits plus pension””””
————-
How interesting, one of the right wing troll, anti-lgbt screenames thinks teachers make good money. Really? What amount do you think teachers make? And what are these benefits?
Mitt Romney makes millions a year off of money he inherited and yet he still wants more money, The CEO of Verizon was making 80 million a year and was still trying to get more.
So explain to me why that is ok, but that teachers should be satisfied with making starting salaries in the 20s?
Oh wait, that’s right, because Republicans hate working Americans.
surreal33
Sorry, no sympathy for the teacher. Grindr is a sleazy cesspool and anyone with a pulse should be well aware that Grindr is trouble waiting to bring you down.
heckles202
Like the girl, you also should throw yourself off a bridge.
DCguy
The verdict that claimed there was no proof she wanted to humiliate her teacher is ridiculous. If a male had done this to a female teacher and then passed around the photos the court wouldn’t have been able to dodge that implication.
If it wasn’t to humiliate the teacher then why was she on there? And if the court didn’t give the soft verdict because of anti-lgbt bias, then why?