Teacher Jailed for Showing Students Campy Horror Film

ABCs of Death Screenshot
ABCs of Death Screenshot

A substitute teacher in Ohio will serve the next 90 days in jail for showing a sexually explicit and violent film to five separate high school classes, reports the Columbus Dispatch.

Sheila Kearns, 58, who had been tasked with temporarily teaching Columbus’s East High School’s Spanish class (despite not knowing any Spanish), was found guilty in January of four counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, according to the Dispatch.

In April of 2013, Kearns was accused of showing The ABCs of Death, a 26-chapter anthology that showcases death “in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty,” according to IMDB. The film also features full frontal nudity and graphic sex scenes. She was fired by the district shortly thereafter.

The woman has since claimed she had not seen the film prior to screening it, and that although she showed it five separate times, her back had remained turned, leaving her unaware of the film’s explicit nature.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles Schneider wasn’t buying it on Wednesday, when he told Kearns her claim is “unconscionable.”

“There’s no way you’ll persuade me that’s what happened,” Schneider said. “This is what happens when you put a teacher in a class that she cannot teach.”

“They put a permanent substitute in a high-school Spanish class who can’t speak Spanish at all,” he continued: “Here we are, with the Columbus public schools telling us what wonderful things (they) are doing.”

Kearns did not testify at her trial, but did offer an apology: “I do love children,” she said Wednesday. “I am sorry. I should have watched the movie.”

She was sentenced to 90 days in jail to coincide with three years of probation. In addition, her substitute-teaching license has been permanently revoked.

Watch: The ABCs of Death trailer:

 

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