I-TEAM: Paying a student for sexual photos? Administrator calls it a joke taken too far

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The dean of students at a Baton Rouge private school, in a video provided to WAFB, says he may have let a joke get out of hand with a teenage girl who is accusing him of sending hundreds of dollars to her and coercing her to send explicit photographs.

The teen’s mother says she was outraged when she discovered text messages, including explicit photographs, earlier this week on her daughter’s cell phone.

The mother says she filed a report with the Baton Rouge Police Department about the matter. Baton Rouge Police leaders confirm an investigation is underway and declined to comment further.

Mother of four, Raynesha Cummings, says none of her children are going back to Second Chance Academy and she wants to warn others about what she says happened between her teen daughter and the school’s dean of students, Corey Nash.

Cummings provided copies of the text messages she says transpired between her daughter and Nash. When WAFB called the phone number seen on the text messages, Nash picked up the phone and identified himself.

Cummings says, since April, Nash has been sending money directly to her daughter through a cash-sharing app to buy various things including a video game. One of the transactions, she says, was for $600. Cummings provided records to WAFB showing these transactions.

WAFB’s Scottie Hunter asked the mother what went through her mind when she saw the messages.

“I was angry,” said Cummings. “I don’t play behind my kids. No one should.”

Cummings says she went to the school Tuesday to confront Nash about the messages and the money that was exchanged. Video filmed by her daughter appears to show Nash own up to the inappropriate messages. At no point during the video does Nash deny the allegations but instead he repeatedly dismisses them as a joke.

*WARNING VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE*

“I sent some irresponsible text messages to her. I was out of order and I was wrong, but I never touched her,” Nash can be heard saying in the video. “That’s my fault and that’s me owning up to that. Man I was wrong, that’s me. I was taking a joke too far.”

Cummings calls Nash’s explanation mind-boggling.

Nash appears to make other statements that alarm Cummings and, at one point during the video, he even addresses the daughter directly saying that he never touched her. The young girl says that he did not touch her only because she refused his advances.

“And what did you say,” Nash can be heard questioning the teen. “You said no and I said okay good right and then I started laughing.”

At this point, Cummings said she lost her cool. While she admits her daughter is also wrong in the situation, she said Nash is an adult and should have known better.

“I just went irate right then because I know he was going to tell me that was a lie but talking to him, he told me everything was a joke. You don’t joke with kids like that,” Cummings said.

Second Chance Academy is a privately-funded school. According to a public obituary, Nash is the son of the school’s founder, Brendia Ford, and a relative of some of the school’s leaders.

Cummings says because of the close ties between Nash and the school, she hopes an outside authority is called in to investigate.

Cummings also hopes other parents will stay vigilant after seeing what allegedly happened between Nash and her daughter.

She says she won’t deny her daughter’s role in the inappropriate exchanges, but believes Nash is in the wrong.

WAFB’s Scottie Hunter has made contact with Nash about this report. The administrator says he is in the process of retaining an attorney but did agree to sit down for an interview with WAFB.

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