Teacher Fired for Previously Appearing in Porn

[Pearl]

OXNARD, Calif. -- A middle-school science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies had hoped not just to get her job back, but to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing personal history.
A three-judge commission put a decisive stop to both, saying firmly and unanimously that Stacie Halas should not be in the classroom.
"We were hoping we could show you could overcome your past," Halas lawyer Richard Schwab said Tuesday. "I think she's representative of a lot of people who may have a past that may not involve anything illegal or anything that hurts anybody."
Judge Julie Cabos-Owen said such a past matters in an age when technology makes porn easy to access and hard to bury.
"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," Cabos-Owen said in the 46-page decision issued Friday by the Commission on Professional Competence.
Halas, 32, was continually deceitful about her nine-month career in porn before she went to work at the school, the judges said.
Schwab said Halas "was being honest and forthright, but was embarrassed and humiliated by her past experience in the adult industry."
Halas was fired in April from her job as a science teacher at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard after online videos of her in porn were discovered by students and teachers.
Student claims that the teacher was moonlighting as a porn star were initially dismissed after school officials said they couldn't find any images of her on the Internet – but they were using the school's computers, which don't allow access to porn.
Teachers then showed administrators downloads of Halas' sex videos from their smartphones.
In hearings, former assistant principal Wayne Saddler testified that at the start of a sex video, Halas talked about being a teacher and he felt her effectiveness in the classroom had been compromised.
After rumors of her performance surfaced, profanity was etched on Halas' classroom window, a teacher testified.
Schwab has said Halas did not star in pornographic movies while teaching in any district. He said she took parts only during an eight-month period from 2005 to 2006 because of financial problems after her boyfriend abandoned her.
District superintendent Jeff Chancer applauded the commission's ruling.
Halas' decision to "engage in pornography was incompatible with her responsibilities as a role model for students," Chancer said in a statement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/stacie-halas-porn-actress-teacher_n_2486138.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular


One one hand, I almost understand why it may not be a good idea for her to be teaching kids who are discovering sex and won't take her seriously as a teacher. But also, I find it unfair that the school is more upset about her past as a porn star than the kids downloading porn.

Should a line be drawn when it comes to second chances and starting over?

 

[MrPryck2U]

I read about this earlier today. My take on this is that if one decides to get into porn in any way, be it pro or amateur, they are putting something out for public consumption that can't be taken back. She was only in the industry for 9 months, but that might as well have been a lifetime. Plus, she even mentions she's a teacher in some of the videos. If she wanted to seek employment as a teacher, she should have never done porn. She showed no judgement at all in that regard. In this day and age, middle school kids are going to get their eyes on porn. Especially if they're left unattended in front of a computer or cellular device that gets the internet.


Obviously, the other big deal is the kids viewing the porn. I don't know if there's much anyone can do there except make sure to block these sites or stand over a kid's shoulder while they use the internet.

 

[BVS]

I'm with you, it's a hard line to draw... but in the end I understand the notion that teachers are role models.

I would say maybe she could teach younger kids, ones that didn't know what porn was, but there will always be some irate parents that thought she was somehow endangering their children.

There's just some professions that require cleaner records than others

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i have to agree. maybe a college professor would've been okay, since all the students (aside from the rare child geniuses) would be adults and not minors. but even if it's a high school teacher, i don't think it's okay because the parents can flip out. and like bvs said, teachers are supposed to be role models. these days it's all too easy for a kid to hop on google and find out what miss halas did before she became a teacher, when the kid might not have even been trying to find the porn in the first place.

 

[BVS]

these days it's all too easy for a kid to hop on google and find out what miss halas did before she became a teacher, when the kid might not have even been trying to find the porn in the first place.

Yeah, that's the one thing that makes me question the woman's thought process, according to the article I read, she didn't even use an alias, she used her real name in porn.

The first rule of porn is you change your name.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

The first rule of porn is you change your name.

exactly. it kinda reminds me of the episode of himym where ted discovers this guy he went to school with is using his name for porn as a tribute to him. the guy still changed his name - he picked a real name, but still.

 

[cobl04]

exactly. it kinda reminds me of the episode of himym where ted discovers this guy he went to school with is using his name for porn as a tribute to him. the guy still changed his name - he picked a real name, but still.

When I got hypnotised in Vegas, the dude asked us all to come up with porn star names. Some bloke said "Lance Hardwood", referencing that episode. I wish I had said something good like that.

Anyway I think it's unfair she was fired/can't get another teaching job for something in her past, though a bit more tact may not have hurt.

 

[bono_212]

Honestly, Danny, if you were 12 and you found out your teacher was a porn "star" would you be able to just look past that?

I'm pretty much in agreement with most that's been said here, it sucks that she got fired for something legal in her past, but it's such a difficult situation.

 

[trojanchick99]

I almost think she'd be better off teaching much younger kids, but middle and high school is out.

 

[Pearl]

If she used her real name in porn, I take it the school district didn't Google her before hiring her? Isn't that what HR is supposed to do these days?

Yeah, she made a bad mistake and poor judgment, and she shouldn't be around adolescent students. I just think its a shame she'll be paying for her mistake for the rest of her life.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I think the shame is that she lacked the foresight to realize that if she got into the adult film industry there could possibly be consequences further down the road if she wished to continue to be a teacher. She would have been better off being a prostitute instead. There's usually no cameras around. Unless you're watching HBO's Cathouse (where it's legal) or (gasp) Hookers at Hunts Point.

 

[the iron horse]

From the article posted:

"A middle-school science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies had hoped not just to get her job back, but to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing personal history."


She has stated that she is trying to escape this time in her life and to give others a chance.

How quick we are to throw stones.

 

[MrPryck2U]

I've got no problem with her having done porn in the past. I've got no problem with her trying to move on from her "embarrassing" history. I do have a problem with her thinking she would be able to continue as a teacher afterward. A side effect of doing porn is that it's out there forever and you can't take it back. Essentially, her decision to do porn immediately destroyed her future in teaching.

 

[BVS]

She has stated that she is trying to escape this time in her life and to give others a chance.

How quick we are to throw stones.

Easy to say, but not easy to do. I would have no problems personally to give her a chance to move on from her past, but a lot of adults don't have that ability.

But knowing how many adults have difficulty with that kind of mercy and forgiveness, I think it's naive to ask that of a middle school child. Can you imagine a middle school girl, who is suppose to look up to her teachers, finding out about her past or even seeing the images? No matter how much you explain that it's the past, I think it's naive to believe that most middle school girls wouldn't be confused by that message.

 

[Pearl]

And what adolescent boy would take her seriously as a teacher?

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Something like this sounds a bit more appropriate to *not hire* her due to her history rather than to fire her after finding out. I know they're virtually the same thing... but the former sounds a bit more reasonable.

 

[BVS]

Something like this sounds a bit more appropriate to *not hire* her due to her history rather than to fire her after finding out. I know they're virtually the same thing... but the former sounds a bit more reasonable.

This is what's been bothering me the whole time about this story. Was this school that hard up for teachers(forgive the pun) that they didn't do a background check? Did her resume not have gaps?

I've been part of the hiring process before, and guess what the first thing I did was... Google, facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

 

[Axver]

It's only porn; it's not as if she did anything bad.

 

[iron yuppie]

It's only porn; it's not as if she did anything bad.

I'd agree. This story is more evidence of a society ridiculously uptight about anything sexual.

 

[corianderstem]

Hey, look! A woman is being shamed for daring to display her sexuality! That never happens anymore.

(I know it's not really black or white, I do agree with some of what's being said, but I also agree with iYup just above me here. And while this was my gut reaction, I can't honestly say that the same thing wouldn't have happened had it been a male teacher.)

 

[Dfit00]

She should have stayed in porn. Porn actresses make an average of $300K per year plus bonuses whereas teachers earn less than $50K per year.

 

[lemonfly]

I'm curious where employers draw the line at what is deemed "acceptable/ wholesome" types of previous employment in regards to nudity for mass consumption. What if she worked as a stripper to pay her way through college - would that also merit a firing? Or a life model for fine art classes? You could argue nude portraits are essentially a form of pornography, but is deemed to be of the tasteful variety and thus acceptable. I can understand why she was fired, but what exactly constitutes as indecency in the minds of employers can vary to a large degree.

 

[cobl04]

She should have stayed in porn. Porn actresses make an average of $300K per year plus bonuses whereas teachers earn less than $50K per year.

Not like that anymore. Louis Theroux wrote an outstanding article on the topic - How the internet killed porn | Culture | The Guardian

 

[iron yuppie]

Plus your career is over at age 30, if you're lucky.

 

[ladyfreckles]

I just don't get what's wrong with appearing in a sexual film in the past. This is another one of those societal issues. It is not a decision I would make, but it's not something I would fire another person over. What, is she going to give the children STDs? I think this is another way school systems and parents try to go and pretend that porn isn't a thing even though statistically most of them probably watch it.

The only reasoning I can find behind this that even has a chance at being justifiable is if it was becoming a distraction in the classroom, and even then, I'd just transfer her to a different school. Otherwise, this whole thing just reeks of "you had sex and there is evidence of this, and that is not okay, since your sex life is totally a subject of conversation in the classroom when you're teaching".

 

[cobl04]

I agree, though I do see where the school is coming from. Depending on the reaction of students and fellow teachers her position could become untenable.

 

[BVS]

Otherwise, this whole thing just reeks of "you had sex and there is evidence of this, and that is not okay, since your sex life is totally a subject of conversation in the classroom when you're teaching".

I think it's a little more than that. This wasn't a sex tape that she made with her boyfriend that got leaked out on the internet. This is "you got paid to have sex with strangers and there is evidence of this", now how exactly do you explain that to your middle school daughter? Yes Abby you may have seen some disturbing images of men doing strange things with your math teacher's face, but she doesn't do that anymore so please look up to her as a role model. I don't really see that flying over so well with many 7th graders.

 

[ladyfreckles]

I think it's a little more than that. This wasn't a sex tape that she made with her boyfriend that got leaked out on the internet. This is "you got paid to have sex with strangers and there is evidence of this", now how exactly do you explain that to your middle school daughter? Yes Abby you may have seen some disturbing images of men doing strange things with your math teacher's face, but she doesn't do that anymore so please look up to her as a role model. I don't really see that flying over so well with many 7th graders.

Middle schoolers are not so naive that they don't know exactly what's going on in the video. Most middle schoolers I know, though I hate to say it, know exactly what porn is and some are even regular watchers of it. Huge reality check here, many grade schoolers have seen porn. Any parent who tries to pretend that their fourteen-year-old kid is some innocent corruptible who is traumatized by the images of her teacher engaging in oral sex is delusional. Unless they happen to be one of the lucky, rare few who have golden-star children that never deviate or get curious or listen to their peers.

I think it's easy to explain, and teachers aren't supposed to be role models. They are supposed to teach. I never once tried to emulate my teachers or view them as aspiring material. For one, I'd actually try paying some attention to what my kids were doing on the internet if I cared so much about porn, and for another, it can easily be explained as a personal decision she made.

"Some people try to make extra money by doing things on camera that they wouldn't normally do, and that is what your teacher did. Some people are more open about sex than others, while some will do these things because they're desperate. It's important to know that you never need to do something like that for money, you always have your family here. She made that decision in the past in a tight spot. I hope you will always make good choices that won't come to bite you in the butt years later, but know that she is clearly working hard to be a good role model now."

Edit in: I teach horseback riding lessons now and spend my days in the barn around kids of various ages and overhearing their conversations. Most of their parents would be morbidly shocked if they found out some of the things their kids knew about. Kids are not stupid. In these days with the internet it's a lot easier to find this stuff.

 

[bono_212]

Hey, look! A woman is being shamed for daring to display her sexuality! That never happens anymore.

(I know it's not really black or white, I do agree with some of what's being said, but I also agree with iYup just above me here. And while this was my gut reaction, I can't honestly say that the same thing wouldn't have happened had it been a male teacher.)

This is a ridiculous statement, Cori, I'm sorry. I understand you getting up in arms about topics sorta like this and I understand, but not this.

There is no way in hell they would let a male teacher with the same background teach either, in fact, I almost feel like that would go over far worse.

Seriously, think about what the situation here is: Your teacher was in porn. You're 12 (not even this situation, let's say it was a male teacher), and this being the internet age, you find out they were in a porn film...do you really really think this isn't going to impact your schooling?

In other jobs, this isn't going to be a factor, but the ability for students to learn is her job, and this seems like a huge topic of conversation to rebound from and get the kids attention focused on the task at hand.

That's just me.

 

[corianderstem]

That's why I put that addendum second-thought bit in there. I know that. But it was one of the reactions I had, and felt like sharing it. (And in case it wasn't clear, I was trying to say that it WOULD happen if it were a man as well.)