Sanibel teacher suspended while district investigates ‘questionable file,’ parents want him back

LEE COUNTY, Fla. – A teacher is suspended without pay after a questionable file showed up on a district computer.

The Lee County School District says Joseph Angelo could face termination.

Now students and parents are rallying around him.

Dozens of parents and students called an impromptu press conference Thursday afternoon, to speak on behalf of Sanibel School teacher Joseph Angelo.

“I am speaking to you today, representing hundreds of past students and parents,” said Arlene Dillon, who worked with Joe Angelo on musical productions. “We are united, in our support of Joe Angelo.”

Since 2005, Angelo has been a music teacher at the Sanibel School.

“He is probably the best teacher that I’ve ever had,” said student Kate Kupsaw.

Angelo hasn’t been allowed at the school since November after the file was found on a computer he borrowed from the district over the summer.

The district’s report says a school IT specialist found a file name “3 friends have sex with 1 chi” in the computer’s hard drive.

According to the report, school officials tried to open the file to investigate further but were not able to open it.

When confronted about the file, Joseph Angelo said the file was from his external hard drive and that he had not viewed it at work. He said the file wasn’t child porn, just a video of three women having sex with “Chyna,” a female pro-wrestler.

WINK News has a report from the school district that says this isn’t the first time Angelo has been in trouble.

In 2011, officials say they found sexually explicit videos on the school’s computer system, after Angelo plugged his hard drive in.

They say he snuck into a locked school office to delete the evidence.

The investigation also found that Joseph Angelo conducted personal business on the job, which is a violation of board policy.

Many of his supporters have read the investigation, and say it’s a witch hunt and that it’s not something Angelo would do.

“He’s an amazing teacher, and we love him, all of us. We want our teacher back,” said Christine Lemmon, a mother of three.

WINK News also confirmed, that Angelo worked next door to the school, giving lessons at the Sanibel Rec Center.

They tell us he has also been suspended from teaching there.

Now the case is in the Superintendent’s hand. She will have to make a recommendation to the board concerning Angelo’s future.

We reached out to Angelo through a cell phone number.

Our calls were not returned.