8th-grade Florida student receives sexually explicit messages and nude photo from teacher via Snapchat leading to lewd contact charges

Summary

An 8th-grade student in Bradenton, Florida, reported receiving sexually explicit messages and a nude photo from his teacher, Oliver Fell, via Snapchat, leading to an investigation by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. School administrators initially dismissed the student’s allegations and suspended him, according to his mother, Beverly Hernandez, who said officials called her son a liar. The teacher, 28-year-old Oliver Fell, was later charged with lewd contact with a student by an authority figure and transmission of harmful material to a minor. An investigation confirmed the communications and identified the nude photo as belonging to Fell, who was arrested on May 12 and ordered to stay away from minors. Fell remained in the school district and teaching students until May 14, when she was reassigned, and had no prior criminal record. The school board chair criticized the handling of the case, noting Fell should have been placed on paid leave pending the investigation.