Teacher's aide accused of asking students for nude photos, sex

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A middle school employee in Tampa resigned Tuesday after he was accused of soliciting explicit photos from underage students.

Quinton J. Bradford, a teacher’s aide at Buchanan Middle School, was arrested on Monday after admitting to Hillsborough County detectives of the crime involving two 13-year-old girls, who attend the same school.

According to a press release, in a period of several months, the 24-year-old suspect first contacted the two girls by sending private messages to their Instagram accounts and “gained their trust and favor by complimenting their looks.

Detectives said he made at least three requests for nude photographs and, at one point, asked for a sexual encounter with one victim, which never occurred.

Tanya Arja, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County Schools, said Bradford resigned Tuesday, a day after he was arrested at the school on Bearss Avenue.

"It's obviously disappointing. It's disgusting when you hear these types of allegations," Arja said. "Anyone who works for Hillsborough County Public Schools is held to a higher standard. Parents have trust in the people that work for our district and ensuring that their students are safe so anybody who would break that trust is somebody that we want to make sure is not around students."

The detectives said they became aware of the incidents on Monday when contacted by school administration concerning improper photos of Bradford circulating among the student body that was found on his social media account. 

Arja said the rules are clear about social media contact between faculty and students.

"They should never friend a student on any type of social media. They should not follow a student on social media and they would not have a student's cell phone number just through out student records. They would have to ask for that," she said.

Parents were notified of the arrest by a call from the school's principal.

Detectives said they are not aware of any other victims, but the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone who may have been a victim or has additional information to call the agency at (813) 247-8200.