Ohio school board member’s typo puts porn link in pro-abstinence Facebook post

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - The Lakota School Board voted 4-1 to censure a board member for posting a link on Facebook that led to “inappropriate sexual content.”

A separate motion Wednesday passed requesting that board member Darbi Boddy resign immediately, WXIX reported.

Boddy, according to the censure resolution, made the post on her campaign’s Facebook account.

In her post, Boddy responds to the notion of the district hiring a firm to review its curriculum for potentially objectionable content.

Boddy, who ran on a platform opposing critical race theory, objects to hiring the firm without the board ensuring that both board members and the firm have an understanding of CRT. But she also objects to sexual education content she claimed is already found in Ohio schools, and she posts links to such sites as examples of what she would find objectionable, including content “about masturbating, sex toys, anything taught besides abstinence.”

One of the links originally contained a typo that took users not to the intended site but to a site containing sexual content the board found inappropriate.

“To post pornographic content on an official, public-facing school board member account that can be accessed by many of our own students is absolutely unacceptable,” Board President Lynda O’Connor said Wednesday evening. “Furthermore, to make a public accusation that our curriculum contains such pornographic material is deplorable.”

Boddy has since removed the link, according to the school board.

She posted a follow-up statement prior to Wednesday’s meeting. It reads in part: “One of the pornographic sites that was put in my communication as part of my list of what to look for in our schools, was a typo and although it was not meant to be part of my communication, it is still representative of the disgusting material that is being put in front of our children. If a typo brings more attention to this problem so be it.”

The board’s censure resolution contends it doesn’t matter that Boddy might not have meant to post the link in question: “Even if the link was posted inadvertently, Ms. Boddy demonstrated gross negligence and reckless conduct by posting links on her Facebook page without ensuring that the content thereon is appropriate.”

Boddy cast the lone no vote on the censure resolution as she walked out of the meeting, saying, “I will not be part of this political ruse.”

The board then voted 4-0 on the resignation request.

“You exposed our community, including potentially children, to inappropriate sexual content,” O’Connor said. “By trying to raise awareness about what to keep out of our schools, your manner of communication has placed it directly into our school community. Your conduct was fundamentally wrong and we expect you to take responsibility.”

School boards in Ohio do not have the authority to remove one of their fellow board members from the board.

“The steps taken at this afternoon’s emergency meeting are the strongest actions the Board can legally take in response to this situation,” a district spokesperson said.

The censure resolution notes Boddy has engaged in previous conduct unbecoming of a board member, referencing “disrespectful and unprofessional comments” to administrators and other Board members.

An earlier online petition to censure Boddy “for her continued disrespect and aggression” towards district superintendent Matt Miller has more than 1,500 signatures, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

The petition reads, “Month after month, meeting after meeting, Mrs. Boddy has repeatedly attacked the integrity and honesty of Mr. Miller. Mrs. Boddy’s statements and behavior serve to undermine the confidence in District leadership at the Board level. Additionally, by her words and statements she is demeaning the integrity of the entire Lakota Staff.”

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