WAKEFIELD — The male Wakefield Memorial High School student at the center of a recent investigation into the posting of inappropriate and explicit photos of female students will not face any criminal charges, according to a statement released Friday by Wakefield Police and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
The statement reports that the Wakefield Police Department has completed its investigation into reports of troubling social media posts by a student, which were referred to the police department by the Wakefield Public Schools.
On Oct. 12, Wakefield Public Schools and the Wakefield Police Department began an investigation into allegations of inappropriate photographs of female high school students being posted to the social media site “Discord” allegedly by a male high school student. The Wakefield Public Schools and Wakefield Police Department took this case and all allegations seriously from the onset, and a thorough investigation was conducted, the statement said.
The police investigation determined that one male Wakefield High School student posted approximately 250 photos of female students to the Discord social media service. The investigation further determined that the majority of the photos posted by the male student were previously posted by the female students to their own social networking accounts, including VSCO, TikTok and Instagram. However, it was determined that the male student also took cellphone photos of female students without their knowledge, and posted those photos to Discord as well.
“The Wakefield Police Department, in consultation with the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, and using all available investigatory and legal resources at their disposal, have determined that the actions of the male student did not meet the standards of violation of criminal law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and none of the photos posted to Discord included sexually explicit material,” according to the statement released on Friday.
Additionally, the Wakefield Police Department investigated an allegation of sexual assault levied against the same male student. Wakefield Police Detectives determined that the sexual assault claim was false and unfounded.
The names of all parties involved are being withheld due to their ages.
With the conclusion of the criminal investigation, this matter has been referred back to the Wakefield Public Schools, which is the appropriate body to adjudicate this matter going forward, the official statement issued by police on Friday added.
Chief Skory, who has met with the parents of students involved in this matter, strongly urges parents to have frank, open conversations with their children about social media.
“Our investigators determined that while the male student exercised poor judgement and engaged in questionable conduct, the matter did not meet the standard of a crime. Nevertheless, it should provide an opportunity for all of us to have an open and honest dialog with our children about how we treat one another and also about what we post online,” Chief Skory said.
“It is extremely important that we work together as a community to monitor and educate our children about how to safely navigate the challenges that come with social media use,” Skory added. “Social media is one of the most challenging variables the modern child faces, and as parents and educators we must be involved in helping prevent poor choices by our children online.”
The frustration and anger of students and parents of Wakefield Memorial High School students simmered last month over the school administration’s handling of the situation. Protests were held in front of the high school by hundreds of sign-holding parents, students and other concerned residents, drawing news coverage by Boston media.
Parents’ outrage boiled over at the Nov. 23 School Committee meeting, where two parents read statements. One of those statements was written and signed by 14 of the female students who described how they felt victimized by the male student’s actions and online postings, as well as by subsequent comments of school officials.
According to the girls’ statement, they were told by school officials that “we needed to be more aware of our surroundings.” They say they were also told by school officials “to make amends with the [male] student” who took and posted the images online.
Through a partnership with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Wakefield Police have made available a Cyber-Education Training that was designed to help youth navigate social media challenges. The training is a free, online program presented by the District Attorney’s Office and Children’s Advocacy Center. The training is available at https://cyber-ed.middlesexcac.org/.
