Breaking: ACLJ Files Federal Lawsuit After Seventh-Grade Students Were Forced To View Pornographic “Art” in Class

The ACLJ has just filed a major federal lawsuit after a New York public school district forced seventh-grade students to view blatantly pornographic images during class – over multiple days – without any parental notice, consent, or opt-out opportunity. What happened in the Watertown City School District was not an accident. It was a constitutional violation of the highest order.

Teacher Admitted Pornographic Material Was “Inappropriate”

According to the complaint we filed in federal court, the seventh-grade art teacher, Bridgette Gates, instructed her students to visit an external website displaying the artwork of a highly controversial artist whose work is known for sexual imagery. Despite this knowledge, the link she assigned led directly to galleries filled with uncensored depictions of graphic sexual content – imagery so explicit that news outlets later had to blur it in their coverage.

Even worse, the teacher told students that “some of the images were inappropriate.” Still,  she instructed them to “ignore them and be mature” and proceeded to require the children to complete a graded assignment analyzing the pornographic content for up to two weeks.

Parents were never informed. Students as young as 11 were left confused, distressed, and forced to choose between obeying their teacher and honoring their family’s values. As we previously reported when we sent our demand letter, this kind of coercive exposure not only violates parental rights but also undermines childhood innocence.

Parents Discovered Truth – Not Because School Told Them

Parents learned what happened only after finding the images on their children’s Chromebooks. One of our clients immediately contacted the teacher, who refused to accept responsibility and instead blamed the school’s IT department. Another reported the incident to school administrators and law enforcement.

The school district later issued a misleading public statement claiming students had simply “come across” inappropriate content – concealing the fact that the teacher assigned the website, knew the content was pornographic, and required students to review it for two weeks.

The District Protected the Teacher – Not the Children

Instead of holding the teacher accountable, the school district placed her on leave only to quietly rehire her as a seventh-grade English teacher, putting her back in the classroom with many of the same children she had already harmed. At a school board meeting, the teachers union president publicly mocked concerned parents as “internet warriors” as school district leaders sat silent.

What Happened – Why It’s Unconstitutional

Our complaint seeks to right the wrong done to these children. This case goes to the heart of two bedrock constitutional protections:

• Parents’ First Amendment right to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their children. For families whose faith governs when and how children learn about sexuality, the school’s actions were a direct affront.
• Parents’ Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest and procedural due process. Government actors cannot expose minors to sexually explicit content and deprive parents of notice and the opportunity to opt out.

Our complaint asks the federal court to:

• Declare that the school district violated parents’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights;
• Enjoin the school district from exposing students to sexually explicit content without parental advance notice and opt-out, and from assigning unvetted online content;
• Require age-appropriate safeguards and transparency; and
• Award damages for the constitutional violations suffered.

Why This Case Matters

Parents should not be forced to choose between public education and their family’s values. The Constitution draws a bright line: Parents, not the state, decide how and when their children are introduced to sexual content. Schools are not free to override that authority or to “correct” the family’s moral instruction through compulsory exposure to explicit material. When officials discard that line, the courts must restore it.

The ACLJ is taking decisive legal action to protect children, vindicate parents’ rights, and compel this school district – and other districts watching – to adopt clear, enforceable policies that respect the Constitution. We are resolute: No student should be forced to view pornography in class. No parent should be kept in the dark.