LOS ANGELES — Memories can last a lifetime, but officials at a high school here want one image forgotten.
Students at Big Bear High School have been ordered to return their 2011 yearbooks after a photograph depicting a male student with his hand underneath a female student’s clothing at a school dance somehow managed to be published, officials said Thursday.
The students appear in the background of the photo and “are not the intended focus of the photograph,” said Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. But officials said it still constitutes child pornography under state and federal law.
The students have not been identified, but Bachman said the boy is 17 and the girl is 15.
According to federal law, any visual depiction of a minor “engaging in sexually explicit conduct” can be considered child pornography. Because of this, officials warn, anyone who still has the photograph could face a criminal charge of possession of child pornography.
A statement from Bear Valley Unified School District said the photograph was discovered after yearbooks were handed out last week. Distribution was immediately stopped and a recall issued. Students were asked to bring their yearbooks to the school, where they will be edited to remove the page and then returned.
