Cafeteria worker sends nude photo to high school student, Florida cops say

A high school cafeteria worker exchanged social media usernames with a student at school, then she sent him an inappropriate photo, Florida authorities said.

Ashley Pearce, 39, worked in the cafeteria at Merritt Island High School and also provided after-school child care at Andersen Elementary School, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Now, she’s charged with transmission of material harmful to a child by electronic device or equipment, records show.

Her attorney information wasn’t available in Brevard County records on Oct. 29.

McClatchy News reached out to Merritt Island High School for comment Oct. 29 but did not immediately receive a response. The sheriff’s office said the school district suspended her.

On Oct. 25, Pearce was working when she had a conversation with a sophomore boy about social media, and she gave him her username, deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit.

They followed each other on the app and began messaging, then Pearce is accused of sending the student a partially nude photo while lying in bed.

This made the student “uncomfortable,” and he blocked her and reported the incident, deputies wrote in the affidavit.

Pearce told investigators she did give the student her social media username and communicated with him, but at first said she didn’t know the student’s age, deputies said. They said she should have known the student was a minor because he attended the school where she worked.

She was arrested and charged.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with similar experiences involving Pearce to contact Special Victims Unit Agent Michelle Sweet-Caporizzo at 321-633-8419.

Merritt Island is in Brevard County on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, about a 60-mile drive southeast from Orlando.