ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A former teacher who had been demoted before because of vulgar text messages he sent to co-workers now faces charges for sending inappropriate videos to his middle school students.
The investigation into Scott Peters, who is a former teacher at Lake Nona Middle School, began in January but he was arrested Monday.
Police took his cellphone in December and put it in a secure police lab, but a door was accidentally left open there, allowing Peters to still access his iCloud account remotely and wipe it clean, police said.
Investigators said Peters used Snapchat to send inappropriate videos and messages to two 13-year-old students while working as a television production teacher at the school.
"It's unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. Teachers are supposed to be there to educate,” said Daniel Perez.
Perez is a father of two and was stunned by the accusations against Peters.
Court records show one student said she received messages from Peters on a daily basis.
The student said he sent messages with heart emojis and said, “I miss you.”
Peters is also accused of sending a video of himself smoking pot, and of using FcaeTime with a student while he was in the shower, exposing himself.
Peters taught at Lake Nona Middle School after he was demoted from Dr. Philips Elementary School in 2015 following accusations of referring to female co-workers as "vaginas on fire" in text messages.
A judge granted a search warrant for police to access Peters’ Apple iCloud account after police had seized his phone.
That's how investigators discovered Peters logged into his account while it was being stored by police and wiped his phone clean.
Peters was placed on relief of duty in December and he was not reappointed.
Cox Media Group
