ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605280036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WOODBRIDGE
SOURCE: Associated Press
A suspended Woodbridge High School television production teacher says he's devastated by school and police investigations into a film by one of his students about a girl getting ready for school.
Darin Jensen, who has taught at the school since 1991, has been suspended with pay since April 9.
The student videotaped a girl as she put on make-up, styled her hair and got dressed. The video includes a three-second shot of the 15-year-old girl sitting in a bra just before putting on a shirt, Jensen said.
``That's it. A bikini is smaller than this bra,'' he said.
Jensen said he told the student the project was improper, ``I told him that it was not appropriate and that it wasn't going on the master reel.'' Jensen uses the reel to show future classes examples of the assignment.
``I was told that I should have disciplined him. But he's a good kid and made a mistake,'' said Jensen, who gave the student a C on the project.
``I'm a Mormon and I would have been offended if it were really lewd.''
The school's Risk Management and Security department concluded an investigation, but the results have not been made public because of pending legal matters.
``I had a perfectly good record up until this. This gave me a nervous breakdown, literally,'' said Jensen, who returned home Tuesday after staying more than a month at Dominion psychiatric hospital in Falls Church.
Don Mercer, director of Risk Management, said Tuesday that Prince William police had pulled out of the investigation, but Jensen received a call Thursday from a detective saying the probe into possible criminal activity was not over.
Students said they can't understand Jensen's suspension, especially since no students saw the tape.
The students are suffering along with Jensen, said 18-year-old Eric Fallah, a senior and operations director for Viking Television, which airs on a local cable channel.
``Morale is really low among students. No one wants to get involved,'' said Eric, adding he has kept the station afloat because of Jensen's training.
``But without Jensen being here, things are really difficult. He is the television program,'' Eric said.
``He's a great teacher. He's an easy teacher to get along with. The assignments he gives are hard but they are fun,'' said Steve Carwile, 17. ``I was mad that he was leaving. I didn't want him to go. If he left, I knew the program would go downhill because there are very few subs that know TV production. He's the only one I know that can teach us all this stuff.''
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB