School Photographer Accused Of Promoting Porn Site To Student

CONCORD, NH — Concord police and school officials are investigating an incident between a professional school photographer and a student that may have promoted a pornographic site to the student, according to officials.

On Nov. 20, Concord High School students were being photographed for student identifications and the latest yearbook when, at one of the sessions, one of the photographers began speaking to a student about working on a "modeling project." The photographer, who was an adult, gave the student a business card with a website and suggested the student visit the site — which led to a pornographic site, the district said.

The parents of the student contacted SAU 8 about the incident and the district contacted the vendor, Geskus Studios & Yearbook Publishing, as well as the school resource officer, Concord police, the district's Title IX safety officer, and the New Hampshire Department of Education. Geskus immediately terminated the photographer, the district said.

Kathleen Murphy, the interim school superintendent, said the district was doing its due diligence on the matter to ensure students were not targeted.

Michael Reardon, the principal of Concord High School, sent out a note to students Monday to see if anyone else was contacted by the photographer about modeling or anything else during the shoot. He asked students to contact school officials and talk to their parents, too, if they were approached by the photographer. In the email, he said the photographer gave the student an IP address for "an inappropriate website." The email was also sent out to parents.

Murphy said the district would also be reviewing whether sufficient safeguards were in place by the vendor to ensure students would not be at risk in the future.

John Thomas, the deputy police chief for Concord, confirmed there was an open investigation about the interaction so there was limited information that could be released. He confirmed the company performed background checks on its photographers and the photographer in question was fired. Investigators also found the photographer was promoting their Instagram site to the student which featured modeling photos. However, one of the entries on the Instagram site led to an OnlyFans.com, which featured inappropriate content that was not intended for the student, he said.

OnlyFans.com features content providers — from educators and creative people as well as escort services and pornography, making photos and videos available to others for a fee.

Rich Carroll, the owner of Geskus, said the company did terminate the photographer after being made aware of the incident recently. The company is working with all involved to investigate the matter. The former employee passed a multi-state and county background check, completed a three-step "extensive interview process, as well as a training-probationary period, he said.

"This person clearly acted in a rogue manner well outside the policies and procedures we have in place at Geskus," Carroll said. "I vehemently condemn this type of behavior. As a local community company, we have never had a situation like this arise in our 16 years in business. We have indicated to the school and authorities that we will cooperate in any legal action they wish to take against this person. Most importantly, we have expressed our sincere apologies to the student and family as we have zero tolerance for this behavior."

The company handles many school and yearbook photos across the region and had previously been a sponsor for New Hampshire's Teacher of the Year program.

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