Ex-Palmetto teacher charged with having naked photos of teen faces child porn trial
Testimony is set to begin Thursday morning in the case against a former Lincoln Memorial Middle School teacher accused of having topless photos of a 16-year-old girl.
Quentin Peterson, 28, is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography. If convicted as charged, Peterson faces up to 10 years in prison.
One of the photos in question is of the then-16-year-old girl posing in a suggestive manner. The other photo shows the girl lying on top of Peterson, then 24, in bed while the two are kissing with a bed sheet covering them from the waist down.
A jury comprised of five women and two men, which includes an alternate, was sworn in Wednesday afternoon. The state will begin presenting it’s case against Peterson when the trial resumes at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. The case is expected to be given over to the jury by Friday at the latest.
The allegations that led to Palmetto police detectives to uncover photos of the girl were reported in April 2017. At the time, Peterson was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Police were unable to find evidence to prove the relationship existed but a forensic search and analysis of his lap top and cell phones uncovered photos of Peterson and another girl — not the initial alleged victim.
Police found more photos of the 16-year-old girl, but Peterson is not facing additional counts because the remaining photos are legally considered child erotica, not child pornography. Peterson’s defense tried to stop the prosecution from being able to use the photos as evidence in the case, but presiding Circuit Judge Lon Arend ruled the photos were intricately intertwined with those that are the basis for the charges against him.
Peterson, who was removed from the school in April 2017 when the allegations were first reported, ultimately resigned in September 2017. The former music teacher was facing termination at the time after police had already shared having found the photos.
The case was submitted to the State Attorney’s Office to review, but it was not until April 2018 that Peterson was arrested and charged in the case. At the time, Peterson was teaching math at Booker High School in Sarasota. Peterson had agreed never to seek re-employment with the Manatee County School District when he was allowed to resigned instead being fired.
But Peterson then applied for a substitute job with the Sarasota County School District, lying on his application and failing to disclose during his interview that he had resigned in lieu of termination. Four months later, Peterson was hired as a math teacher at Booker.
“Former Lincoln Principal Eddie Hundley recommended Peterson for both jobs, later arguing that he was unaware of the ongoing investigation, and that Peterson was arrested long after the job recommendations were made. An administrative law judge found Hundley’s recommendations to be misleading and false, leading to a five-year suspension of his teaching certificate.
Sarasota Schools Superintendent Todd Bowden and the former assistant principal at Booker both testified at Florida Division of Administrative Hearings proceedings that they never would have hired Peterson if they knew he was under criminal investigation.
The Education Practices Commission permanently revoked Peterson’s teaching certificate in April 2020 following a recommendation from Administrative Law Judge Lynne A. Quimby-Pennock.
“Appropriate boundaries are an essential part of a teacher’s responsibilities,” Quimby-Pennock wrote. “Respondent crossed the line by failing to maintain an appropriate and necessary teacher-student relationship.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 3:40 PM.
