By GLEN WERLING
A rural Bluffton teen is facing multiple charges after he allegedly coopted a teacher’s cell phone at Norwell High School.
A preliminary plea of not guilty has been entered in Wells Superior Court for Drew Ringger, 18, charged with criminal conversion, two counts of distribution of an intimate image — all Class A misdemeanors — and two counts of dissemination of matter harmful to minors, both Level 6 felonies.
Fort Wayne attorney Randall Hammond has been retained to represent Ringger.
Indiana State Police Lt. Devin Hostetler was assigned to investigate the incident. Working with the Wells County Sheriff’s Department, Hostetler learned that Ringger allegedly had taken a cell phone belonging to a Norwell High School teacher and had “AirDropped” an eight-second-long video of the teacher that was sexual in nature from her phone to his own cell phone.
AirDropping is a program on iPhone cellphones whereby a person can wirelessly send photos, videos, websites, locations, and more to other nearby devices.
The video was of consensual activity involving her fiance and had been placed in a hidden file within her phone’s memory. The teacher reportedly told Hostetler that she did not know how Ringger was able to find the file so quickly. She also reportedly tearfully admitted to Hostetler that she had been humiliated by the entire experience.
Ringger allegedly shared the video with at least one other student. That student, a juvenile, reportedly showed the video to other students at a video game party they were all taking part in.
At that point, a juvenile student apparently opened a Snapchat group with the video and shared it with other students.
Because of the action, Ringger was expelled from the high school and the teacher was placed on paid leave for permitting her cellphone to be in a location where a student could access it. Reportedly, as a disciplinary measure, the teacher had Ringger sit beside her desk because he had been disruptive in class. The phone had been left on the teacher’s desktop because she was awaiting word on an emergency medical procedure a relative was undergoing.
Ringger’s cell phone and the cell phone of the student he is alleged to have sent the video to have both been confiscated by the trooper.
Apparently the alleged activity came to light when a student informed his mother that the video was a topic of discussion among a number of students at Norwell.
Ringger is also alleged to have admitted to having taken the video from the teacher’s phone and sharing it.
glenw@news-banner.com
