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St. Pete Teacher Charged With Sending Porn Evicted

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By MARK  DOUGLAS | News Channel 8
and STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 9, 2009

Updated: 03/09/2009 06:25 pm

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• Sex In Our Schools

Christy Martin

Christy Lynn Martin may have made bail this weekend after she was arrested on charges she sent pornographic pictures of herself to a 14-year-old boy's cell phone. But now the Azalea Middle School teacher has no place to live.

The 32-year-old woman has been evicted from her home at the Reserve at Lake Pointe apartment complex in south St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg police say.

The manager at the apartment complex could not be reached for comment.

Martin, formerly of 3457 Lynn Lake Drive S., was arrested over the weekend on one count of transmitting pornographic images through an electric device and one count of transmitting material harmful to a minor.

She was released from Pinellas County Jail after posting $20,000.

The victim is an eighth-grade student at Azalea but is not a student in any of Martin's classes, St. Petersburg police said.

The investigation began after the boy told an adult relative about his relationship with Martin. The relative told the boy's mother, who notified the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Detectives interviewed Martin, who admitted sending the photographs, police said.

According to arrest affidavits, police say Martin sent photos of her breasts and genitalia to the boy's Samsung camera phone during the last weekend in February and the boy sent a similar photo of himself to her phone that "she knew or should have known was child pornography."

Police said the details of the relationship are not yet clear.

Martin signed a one-year contract with the school system in August, according to her personnel file.

She earns $37,300 a year, and has a temporary teaching certificate, as opposed to a regular one, her
file says.

At Azalea, she was assigned to teach computer education and also taught a "Life Choices" class.

School district spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said in that class students learn about "self esteem, positive relationships, peer pressure and making good choices."

From February 2008 through June 2008, she served as an exceptional student education associate at the school, helping a teacher grade papers.

In 1999, she graduated from Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach with a 2.3 grade point average. Her application says she received three speeding tickets – two in Florida, and one in Baltimore.

Her work history includes stints as a bank teller and positions where she has done some recruiting for colleges, her application says.

"It is important to me to help our children get the best education they can gert (sic)," she wrote in her Aug. 11, 2008 application to the Pinellas schools system. "Working as a college recruiter for the past four years, I have seen out (sic) little involvement the teachers have in the kids future. I ant (sic) to let the children know that the sky is the limit for them."

Schools spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said Martin would be on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

She said the principal at Azalea has received "virtually no calls about this at this time," and students interviewed outside the school said it was commonplace for students to text one another pictures of themselves.

Late Monday, Azalea Middle School Principal Teresa Anderson sent automated phone messages to parents that said "I am calling regarding Ms. Martin, a teacher who allegedly has had inappropriate relations with a student. Effective today, the teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the district investigation."

Anderson went on to promote discussions between parents and students. "Encourage him or her to talk to you, or an adult at school, about anything that may be inappropriate or questionable," Anderson said.

Last year, the school district suspended and transferred a male teacher for sending inappropriate e-mail to a female student. Those e-mails were not sexual.

Zahn said she knew of no prior incidents involving teachers allegedly sending pictures of themselves to students.

Also last year, an employee with the Department of Juvenile Justice was arrested on charges he text-messaged obscene and nude pictures of himself to a 14-year-old girl who had been in a juvenile detention center, Gulfport police said.

The girl told a campus police officer at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport and an investigation commenced.

Stay with TBO.com for updates.

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