Politics
School nurse, 40, charged with ‘secretly photographing’ more than 40 girls aged between 12 and 17 in school bathroom
A MALE high school nurse is facing child pornography charges after he secretly photographed more than 40 students aged between 12 and 17 undressing in a bathroom, police say.
Leon Burnett Hensley, 40, formerly of Clarksville, Tennessee, was arrested on Thursday near his current home in Lake Wales, Florida.
Leon Burnett Hensley, 40, was arrested at his home in Florida on Thursday on child pornography charges[/caption]
The more than 40 victims are all believed to be female students at North East High School in Clarksville where Hensley worked between August 2017 and November 2019.
In total, the former nurse was alleged to have been found in possession of over 700 illicit images of juvenile girls that appeared to have been captured on a hidden camera in a bathroom.
The images showed the victims in various states of undress, with each either partially nude or fully nude in all of the seized images.
“The camera was positioned in such a manner as to capture or attempt to capture the lewd and lascivious display of the genitalia and positioned in the same location in all of the images,” prosecutors wrote in a press release.
“The camera was positioned directly across and in front of the toilet seat, at toilet seat level.”
The more than 40 victims are all believed to be students at North East High School in Clarksville where Hensley worked from 2017-2019[/caption]
The investigation into Hensley began in 2019 after the Department of Child Services received a complaint that he had sent an image of a nude woman to a juvenile.
He also reportedly asked the minor to help him with a photoshoot by posing for nude images, according to a criminal complaint.
Police executed a search warrant on Hensley’s home and seized multiple electronic devices, including his cell phone and a small covert video camera.
From those devices, investigators discovered more than 700 images alleged to have been taken by Hensley of female students in a bathroom, either in “various states of undress” or “utilizing bathroom facilities.”
It was determined that the illicit pictures had been captured inside a private bathroom for students inside the nurse’s office at North East High.
Some of the images had been hidden in a folder on his phone called NEHS – or North East High School – and the images were labeled with what appeared to be students’ names.
Police also said they recovered nude images of women in hospital exam rooms at Tennova Hospital in Clarksville, where Hensley was employed prior to his job at the school[/caption]
The images were taken between August 2017 and November 19, with the victims ranging in age from 12 to 17.
Additionally, authorities said they recovered nude images of women in hospital exam rooms at Tennova Hospital in Clarksville, where Hensley was employed prior to his job at the school.
The school district said in a statement that Hensley was fired in November 2019 “due to a CPD investigation at that time for exploitation of a minor.”
“The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority,” the district said, adding that it is “fully cooperating with CPD as they investigate these heinous crimes.”
Investigators are still sorting through some 500,000 images and videos on a hard drive belonging to Hensley.
The 40-year-old appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Tampa for arraignment on Thursday.
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If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of up to life in prison.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Hensley has an attorney.
It’s also unclear if he was employed in Lake Wales prior to his arrest.
