Stacie Halas was fired from her job as a middle-school science teacher after her students and colleagues discovered that she had a short stint acting in pornos under the name Tiffany Six.
Halas appealed for her job back, claiming that she only dabbled in porn because she needed money after a boyfriend abandoned her, and that, regardless, her past shouldn’t affect her future. A three-judge commission disagreed, and decided that she should not be reinstated in her classroom.
“Although her pornography career has concluded, the ongoing availability of her pornographic materials on the Internet will continue to impede her from being an effective teacher and respected colleague,” Judge Julie Cabos-Owen said in the 46-page decision issued last week.
The “effective teacher” part of the decision has some merit. Anyone who has ever been a teacher (or has simply spent time around obnoxious tweens) knows that even a barely-exposed bra strap can lead to months of taunting. Halas’s kids (and her fellow teachers) had actually downloaded her porn videos on their cell phones. It makes sense that the judge would decide she was unable to handle her classroom.
But the “respectable” aspect is incredibly frustrating: Halas isn’t a sex offender. Her work in porn wasn’t illegal and it didn’t hurt anyone. This case sets a clear precedent — porn stars have no business being around children — and that’s not good.
Halas’ decision to “engage in pornography was incompatible with her responsibilities as a role model for students,” District superintendent Jeff Chancer said in a statement. How much do you want to bet he’s watched a fair amount of porn before and still considers himself a respectable man?
[AP]
Image via sdecoretShutterstock.