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Last updated on Thursday, March 22, 2012
(BLOOMINGTON) - A former assistant middle school football coach was arrested Tuesday on charges of showing students nude images.
Police say Derrick Hill was arrested after an investigation prompted by complaints from parents at Batchelor Middle School in Bloomington.
"I was surprised and a little disturbed that someone in that position would introduce children to such detrimental material," says parent Kevin Jenkins.
Monroe County Chief Deputy Sheriff Michael Pershing said Hill is accused of showing images considered harmful to minors and faces felony charges.
"The way I understand it is they were nude photos of females that showed their genital area and other areas on their body," Pershing says.
Court documents said the incident happened on school grounds last fall when Hill was monitoring a study hall for the football team.
RTV6's Eboné Monet interviewed several student and they say a commotion began as students gathered around Hill to look at nude images.
"A juvenile does not have the right to explicit material that is furnished by an adult," Jenkins says.
Parent Amy Blackketter says that Hill's alleged actions were out of line.
"Yes, kids can get to it, but it's not what I want my children to get to. No other adult should be doing that with my children or anybody else's children. It's not their prerogative to do that," Blackketter says. "I do my best to shield my children from those things until they're old enough to process it. So, being in that authoritative position, he shouldn't expose them to that."
According to court documents Hill told police he received a picture of a seminude woman sent to his cellphone and that he accidentally opened it, but refused to show it to students.
In separate interviews also detailed in court documents, students say Hill scrolled through the images on his cellphone while football players looked on.
School officials say Hill was not an employee at the time of his arrest and that he worked at Batchelor Middle School until January.
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