KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. As part of her coverage, she received an e-mail tip about the story below. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Shawn Collier was a freshman at Lawrence's Free State High School when police say a nude photo was taken of him in a bathroom and shared on social media.
Another student has since been charged as a juvenile with a felony in relation to the incident.
The Lawrence, Kansas, Police Department investigated the May 6 incident and determined Shawn was in the school bathroom when four other students walked in.
Shawn attempted to hit one of the other students, missed, and hit their backpack and water bottle, per police.
“They think I was boxing some kid, but no, I was just playing with them," Shawn said.
That's when Shawn made a decision that would land him in trouble with the school.
“I tried to make them laugh by doing something I shouldn’t do, like peeing on the wall," he said.
School officials contacted Shawn's parents and notified them of his discipline: he would have to clean a school bathroom every day for the next week.
“I felt like that was fair and would teach him a lesson,” said Jerry Collier, Shawn's dad.
That was the last time Shawn's parents heard of the incident until a couple of days later, when Shawn and his mom were talking that weekend.
“I was kinda chatting with him, and he was like, ‘They took a picture.’ And I was like, ‘What? What do you mean they took a picture?'" said Heather Michele Belcher, Shawn's mom.
As Shawn urinated on the wall, one of the other students in the bathroom took a picture from behind. The photo revealed Shawn's naked rear end, and the student who took the photo distributed it through Snapchat, according to an LKPD spokesperson.
Collier has TAR syndrome, which causes the absence of radius bones.
“Shawn’s had several bullies growing up because of his condition, and this one was just over the line," Collier said.
Belcher and Collier say they immediately contacted school officials that weekend and followed up on Monday, May 12. Collier met with school officials and the school resource officer (SRO), who initially investigated the incident.
That's when he was told school officials found the student who took the photo and made him delete it from his phone.
Collier said a school official and the SRO informed him he could take legal action, which he wanted to discuss with Belcher and Shawn.
He said the SRO also informed him that if he decided to take legal action, he or Shawn could be charged with assault and battery for Shawn's actions in the bathroom on May 6.
“As Jerry’s telling me this, I’m like, that does not feel right," Belcher said.
LKPD employs the SROs at Free State High School.
The initial officer who investigated the incident did not suggest charges and closed the investigation, according to LKPD.
LKPD says it began an internal investigation regarding the case and determined the initial SRO violated department policy. LKPD Chief Richard Lockhart issued Belcher and Collier an apology letter.
"While we typically provide great service, this is one of those occasions when we did not do our best," Lockhart's letter read in part. "We are working with the officer to make sure the officer understands our policy, and I am confident this will not happen again with this officer."
A second LKPD officer was assigned to the case and determined what happened on May 6.
LKPD sent an affidavit to the Douglas County District Attorney's Office. The student was charged with aggravated unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child — a felony — in August.
The same week Shawn's parents first met with the school, a school official forwarded an apology letter from the student who took the photo.
"'I didn't take the picture with the intention of humiliating anyone,'" Belcher said as she read the note. "Well, he didn't say why he took the picture, and it's not anyone, it was Shawn."
Belcher shared a Lawrence Public Schools document with KSHB 41 News that says the district disciplined the student who took the photo.
Still, Belcher said Shawn's life "changed forever that day," and they needed to let the school and the student know this was a serious incident.
“What it had done to our family and to Shawn, there wasn’t a sweep this under the rug and go to the next day," Collier said. "We were suffering from it.”
Shawn's parents said he grew up loving school; he even hated snow days. But that all changed after he was cyberbullied.
“Angry, sad, depressed," Shawn said as he described how he has felt since the incident. "Upset, not being able to smile, not being able to eat well."
Collier and Belcher transferred Shawn from Free State High School to Lawrence High School.
“I’m not comfortable with how things played out for Shawn," Belcher said. "What are they going to do different next time to make sure this doesn’t happen?”
Belcher and Collier appealed the Lawrence Public School's initial investigation into the incident, and an independent investigator has been assigned to conduct a second investigation.
KSHB 41 News reached out to Lawrence Public Schools for a comment on the incident. A spokesperson for the district said they are unable to comment due to student privacy laws and protections.
The spokesperson sent a copy of the district's cell phone policy, which states cell phone use is prohibited in school restrooms.
Shawn said he wants to share his story to make a difference and to let kids know that cyberbullying is not OK.
“I’m trying to help kids to not feel sad, make society greater," he said.
Shawn's story is not a rare one.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe is not involved in Shawn's case, but he said he's seen an uptick in nude photos of minors being shared online in recent years.
“There’s a variety of different statutes that can be employed for this type of bullying using social media, pictures to harass, to humiliate your peers," he said.
Howe said he has seen the "horrific consequences" on both juvenile victims and juvenile offenders when it comes to bullying — from mental health issues to inpatient services and suicide.
Howe's office works closely with schools in Johnson County when these types of offenses happen.
“If it’s between two individuals, we take a different approach than if I have pictures of an individual and then I give it to the entire school to see; I think that’s a different situation," he said.
He said his office believes it's important to educate parents to talk with their children about the impacts of sending nude photos.
University Health licensed psychologist Jennifer Keller also isn't involved in Shawn's case, but she has counseled young clients who have experienced similar situations where their nude photos have been shared online.
“Even though they have grown up with social media, they’ve grown up with electronics, we’re talking about developing brains where they don’t necessarily have all the critical thinking skills," Keller said. "So part of our job early on, when they’re exposed to this stuff, is teaching them how to use it in a safe way.”
The student's first appearance in court is Oct. 15.
"We’ll be there so the judge can see Shawn," Belcher said.
Until then, Shawn has a message for his peers.
“I just want them to learn that cyberbullying is not OK," he said. "It’s alright to take pictures with your friends when you’re doing something fun or have a memory, but it’s not OK when you cyberbully or record someone to bully them.”
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