Police probe report of Bridgewater students circulating nude photos

Bridgewater Junior Senior High School is seen in this file photo.

Police are investigating reports of images circulating online involving Nova Scotia high school students, which are said to involve nudity.

Nine students at Bridgewater Junior Senior High School have received suspensions ranging from one to five days, and last Tuesday the school’s principal called the police.

Police are calling the images being circulated “questionable.”

Bridgewater Police Chief John Collyer says that while cases like these are not uncommon, what makes this case different is new legislation introduced after the death of Rehtaeh Parsons that makes it a crime to distribute intimate images without consent.

“We've seized a number of phones and we've started an active investigation,” Collyer said.

South Shore Regional School Board Superintendent Geoff Cainen says the case has him very concerned.

“There could be photos of both boys and girls, perhaps … not fully clothed,” he said.

Cainen said a letter will be going home to parents on Wednesday.

“We wanted to make sure we had all of our information accurate first, so now that we've gathered the facts, we'll send something out,” he said.

The school’s students, meanwhile, have been gathering facts of their own.

“I just heard rumours that some students got in trouble with some suggestive images that were circling around online,” said 16-year-old student Eden Lunn. “Slightly pornographic or something.”

Sixteen-year-old student Connor Wile said he believes the situation involves file-sharing through the cloud-based platform Dropbox.

“I just heard it was something about a Dropbox, and pics were getting sent around,” he said.

Lunn says she’s not amused.

“I think it's pretty disgusting,” she said.

School parent Jodi Rafuse says she believes the school should have informed parents about the situation.

“As a parent of all daughters, it doesn't make me feel very good,” she said.

Police say it’s too soon to say whether charges will be laid, but they won’t rule it out.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell