OVIEDO, Fla. – A Hagerty High School teacher was arrested Friday at his Oviedo home by the FBI on allegations of enticing a teen to engage in sexual conduct and production of child pornography.
Greg Vaughn, a social studies teacher, was taken to the Seminole County jail.
The FBI said a woman in Colorado discovered that her daughter was having sexual conversations with Vaughn on a website called Deviantart. The mother also found emails containing nude photos of her daughter and Vaughn, the FBI said.
According to the FBI, Vaughn established a "pay chart" in which the teen would be paid for certain types of photos. The payments included money, books, candy, clothing, panties and makeup, the FBI said.
Authorities said Vaughn, who's divorced and has two daughters, and the teen also engaged in sexual activity while Skyping each other.
When questioned by the FBI, Vaughn said he was trying to help the teen and that the sexual nature of role-playing was part of a therapy to make her feel better.
According to Seminole County Public Schools, Vaughn is not teaching summer school but was scheduled to return to campus in August. School officials said it is awaiting the judicial process, but Vaughn is not welcome on school property.
Vaughn was hired in 2005 and had no prior disciplinary issues, school officials said.
"You send them to school thinking, 'OK, this is the place that they're safe, this is a place I can relax," said April Walton, Vaughn's neighbor.
Walton said she saw police and undercover officers Friday evening at his home.
"You could hear them, 'Bang, bang, bang,' banging on the door," said Walton.
Vaughn marks the fourth arrest at Hagerty High School in the last year. William Nordin, a special education teacher, was arrested in May 2014 on sex assault charges. Michael Fitzwater, a teacher's aide, was arrested in September 2014 on charges of unlawful sexual contact with a minor. William Gierke, the dean at Hagerty, was charged in February 2015 with soliciting prostitution.
Neighbors like Walton said they found the news unsettling.
"I wouldn't. I don't want her going there, I refuse to move out of the Oviedo High School area because I don't want her going to Hagerty."
"While it is unfortunate at the number of district staff that have been arrested from Hagerty High School, it is not indicative of the institution, the leadership, or the many outstanding teachers and students that conduct themselves appropriately on a daily basis," a Seminole County School District representative said. "Each of these arrest cases are uniquely different and completely unrelated with the exception of the fact that those individuals happened to teach at the same school. The district takes these cases extremely seriously, regardless of where they occur, and makes it abundantly clear, through school board policies, employee orientations, trainings, staff handbooks and administrative meetings, that inappropriate conduct will not be tolerated."?