Student complaints over teacher's social media use lead to Pierce College investigation



PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Pierce College officials say they are investigating a faculty member after students complained about social media posts made by the teacher.

“I don’t know if there is more to this than these videos, and that’s what I'm concerned with,” said Ann, the mother of one of the students in the class.

Ann did not want to use her last name to protect her child.

She says her 16-year-old daughter is a junior in high school, but takes courses at Pierce College.

This past weekend, Ann says she found out terrifying news.

“I told her she needed to go get some help from the professor, and she told me she didn’t feel comfortable going to him, and so I asked her, 'Why?', and she said he makes her feel uncomfortable and that he’s posting these videos on TikTok,” she said.

TikTok is a social media app for video sharing.

Ann says the teacher, who Q13 News is not identifying because he has not been charged with any crime, suggested to Ann’s daughter and the entire class to follow him on this app.

“Social media is their life and the things that are going on social media are scary, and this is like a teenage site he was on, and I’m blown away,” she said.

On the app, the teacher has more than 2500 “fans."

The videos on his page are explicit, referencing sex and using profanity.

Ann says she and her daughter contacted Pierce College about this situation on Monday, but heard nothing back from the school.

“If this hadn't gone to the media, we may not know what's going on and an investigation may not have taken place,” she said.

Q13 News also reached out to Pierce College for comment, but they did not return our calls.

The school did comment through Twitter:

“Pierce College has been alerted to concerns about an adjunct faculty member regarding social media posts that have raised serious concerns from students. Our first concerns are the well-being and education of our students. We are investigating this matter and taking action. While we have no indication of any illegal activity, we are taking precautions during this investigation and have arranged for other faculty to provide coverage of the faculty member's classes in order to not interrupt the education of our students”

Ann says she isn’t waiting for an answer from the school and contacted police about the situation.

“I want this man to no longer be teaching at Pierce College so no other parent has to go through this with their child,” she said.

Puyallup Police say they are investigating the situation.

There are no charges.