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Bucks middle school mired in sex-tape scandal

Police in Bristol Township say pupils were circulating cellphone footage depicting “sexual conduct” between two kids.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Middle School in Bristol. (Bristol Township School District)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Middle School in Bristol. (Bristol Township School District)Read more

A BUCKS COUNTY town is embroiled in a sex-tape scandal involving middle-school pupils.

Earlier this week, administrators at Franklin D. Roosevelt Middle School were notified that pupils were circulating a cellphone video depicting "sexual conduct" between two children, said Lt. John Godzieba, acting chief of Bristol Township Police.

It was unclear last night if the kids depicted in the video are pupils at the school.

As part of their inquiry, Godzieba said, investigators confiscated 10 cellphones from pupils at Roosevelt, on Veterans Highway near Winder Drive in Bristol.

In a statement distributed Wednesday, Samuel Lee, superintendent of the Bristol Township School District, said school administrators caught wind of the video late Tuesday and turned over all information about the footage to police and child-welfare agencies.

"The safety and well-being of Bristol Township School District students is always our top priority," Lee said. "That is why we are so disturbed about a situation that was brought to our attention yesterday."

Lee emphasized that the video was not filmed on school property.

School counselors will be at Roosevelt to help counter the "disturbance that this video has caused those who have viewed it," he added.

Under a 2012 amendment to Title 18, the state's criminal code, it's illegal for minors to possess, view or distribute sexually explicit depictions of other minors.

As of last night, no charges had been filed in the case, which investigators characterized as being in "its infancy stages."

"We're going to get to the bottom of this," Bristol Township Police Lt. Terry Hughes said.

"This is a complicated situation, and we want to make sure we're conducting a complete, thorough investigation."