CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. – A guest speaker was removed from a Virginia high school assembly Monday morning after an inappropriate image appeared on a large screen at the beginning of his presentation, Midlothian High School principal Shawn Abel said in a message to parents.
The image was pornographic in nature, people who were in the room during the Career Pathways program assembly at Midlothian High School told WTVR. The assembly was attended by the school's sophomore class.
Multiple students said after the inappropriate image appeared, the guest presenter threw up his hands and said, "That’s not mine."
The screen was quickly blacked out by school staff and the man was removed from the assembly.
One student who was at the assembly said the room fell silent for a few seconds because no one could really tell what was going on.
“I looked at it again and I was still really confused. Then I was like ‘Oh’ and they shut it off and took the guy out,” said Sophomore John Williams.
The teen also commended the school for their quick response.
“I think that the school did a really good job with the way that they handled it, by emailing the parents, instead of having them find out through us,” said Williams.
WTVR has confirmed that the guest speaker was employed with Bon Secours Health System as an X-ray technician.
"The image came from the mobile drive provided by the outside speaker. The guest speaker was immediately removed from the assembly, and the remainder of the event went on as planned," Abel said. "Like you, I am very concerned that a distraction caused by an outside speaker would become the focus of an otherwise important conversation with our students. We will redouble our efforts when we coordinate events with outside speakers, including screening the presentations ahead of time."
In a statement, Bon Secours apologized for the incident and noted that the employee has been placed on administrative leave while “we conduct a thorough investigation.”
Here’s the full statement.
“Bon Secours is a faith based organization, and as such we hold our employees to the highest ethical standards. We therefore offer our sincerest apology to the students, faculty, and parents of Midlothian High School for the incident today involving a Bon Secours employee. The incident was accidental, but unacceptable. We have placed the employee on administrative leave while we conduct a thorough investigation, and will take appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the findings of the investigation. We will have no further comment until the investigation is complete.”
