A middle school teacher from Mount Pleasant is accused of exchanging nude photos with a 14-year-old child.
Ashley Mongell, 30, is a seventh grade science teacher at Connellsville Area Middle School.
State police said they began investigating Mongell and her contact with the child after Instagram made a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s cyber tip line on Sept. 4.
The conversations reported, some sexual in nature, dated to mid-January and continued in late August, according to a criminal complaint. They discussed using another platform, Snapchat, after which the child responded with a Snapchat username.
State police executed search warrant at Mongell’s home and the child’s home on Friday.
The child told state police that they had sent nude photos to each other through Snapchat, the complaint states.
Mongell admitted to communicating with the child on Instagram, via cell phone and Snapchat, the complaint states. She allegedly admitted to knowing the child was underage.
Mongell admitted that the child sent her a fully nude photo and that she sent them an “inappropriate photograph,” the complaint states.
The photo of Mongell was found on a device owned by the child and a device seized from Mongell, the complaint states. Mongell allegedly admitted that the photo was her.
State police charged Mongell with a felony count of unlawful contact with a minor and a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.
She did not have an attorney listed in court records.
Mongell was arraigned Friday and being held in the Fayette County jail on $40,000 bail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 24.
