http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=54865

Students find sex video of teacher By Amanda Lee Myers, Tribune December 9, 2005 A video production teacher took school equipment home and made a sex tape his students later viewed, school and police officials said Thursday in Phoenix.

Sam Hernandez, who also teaches English immersion at Shadow Mountain High School, is on paid administrative leave, said Paradise Valley Unified School District officials.

Hernandez taped himself and a woman having sex under covers, said Judi Willis, a district spokeswoman.

Hernandez used school equipment and likely accidentally left the tape in the video camera when he brought it back to school, Willis said.

"Several" students shooting a class project found the 45-minute tape Monday and watched it, Willis said.

"When they rewound it to look at their footage, they saw his footage," she said.

One of the students, who was not identified, reported what he had found to his stepfather, who called the school to complain.

The district, the Arizona Department of Education and the Phoenix Police Department are investigating.

Hernandez could face charges of furnishing harmful materials to a minor, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Lauri Williams.

As far as using school equipment to tape sex acts, "it may be against the schools policy, but thats not against the law," Williams said.

Contact Amanda Lee Myers by email, or phone (480) 970-2330