HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A Cedar Ridge High School teacher has been suspended after students reported being shown a pornographic image in class, according to a parent and district officials.

The parent, who did not want to be named because of retaliation fears, told The News & Observer that civics teacher Francis Felicelli began showing a slide presentation to his ninth-grade students Thursday morning. Another parent, who also declined to give her name, said the slideshow started with photos of snowmen.

But the third image on the screen had one or more naked women engaged in a sex act with a naked man, their students told them.

Felicelli’s Facebook page says he has been with the district since 2007.

Orange County Schools district spokesman Kevin Smith confirmed Felicelli has been suspended with pay while an investigation is being conducted.

Smith declined to corroborate the parent’s account or say whether Felicelli intentionally showed the image to his students.

“I can tell you that the administration is aware. The school administration is aware, and there is currently an investigation,” Smith said.

Parents started contacting each other about what happened Thursday night, said the parents who reached out to The N&O. They are angry that the district is not being transparent about what happened, they said.

Smith said he does not have any information about whether school or district officials will send out information to families about the incident or the investigation.

The N&O’s attempts to reach Felicelli by phone and social media messaging on Friday were unsuccessful. His Facebook page showed he previously worked from 2005 to 2007 at Southeast Raleigh and Broughton magnet high schools in Wake County.

What district policy says

It is not clear whether Felicelli was using his personal laptop or one provided to him by the district, or if he may have downloaded an image while on campus.

District policy prohibits the use of school laptops for intentionally viewing, sending or receiving, creating, accessing, downloading, storing, printing or transmitting pornographic material. It also notes that the district uses software to block and filter Internet access to obscene materials and artificial intelligence to “detect inappropriate use of technological resources.”

State law also prohibits viewing pornography on public school networks and devices.

OCS district policy says employee violations can result in dismissal and, in some cases, criminal prosecution.

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