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N.H. teacher charged with sending nude photos to student

E-mail|Link March 5, 2010 03:34 PM

By Globe Staff

A Londonderry high school teacher repeatedly offered to have sex with one of her students and also e-mailed nude photographs of herself that ended up circulating among students at the New Hampshire school, according to police.

Melinda Dennehy (Londonderry PD photo)

Melinda Dennehy, 41, is charged with one count of indecent exposure for allegedly e-mailing the nude photograph of herself to a 15-year-old student, according to a police affidavit released today.

Earlier this week, staff at the school learned from students that "an inappropriate picture(s) of a female teacher were being distributed throughout the high school by the students,'' the affidavit says."This picture has been identified by co-workers to be that of Melinda Dennehy.''

Dennehy was placed on paid administrative leave on Wednesday when information about the photographs surfaced, triggering a separate investigation by the school department, said Londonderry School Superintendent Nathan S. Greenberg.

Greenberg said Dennehy has been a Londonderry teacher since 2007, her first job as a teacher after deciding to switch careers. "I believe she was in human relations,'' Greenberg said of Dennehy's prior career.

Greenberg said because the school department investigation is a personnel matter, he could not discuss the specifics of the allegations against Dennehy. He said hiring -- and firing – decisions are made by the town's school board.

"We will conduct our own investigation and we will take any action deemed warranted by our findings,'' he said.

He added, "as always the safety and well being of out students and the children of our community will be given our highest priority,'' Greenberg said.

According to the police affidavit, Dennehy e-mailed four photographs of herself to a student within the past two months. Dennehy also allegedly sent text messages to the same teen. "In some of those messages, Dennehy told (the teenager) that she wanted'' to perform a sex act on him, police said in the affidavit.

Dennehy has been charged with one count of indecent exposure. She is free on $10,000 personal recognizance bail and is due to be arraigned in Derry District Court on April 30, police said.

Police said their investigation is continuing.