PASADENA >> Police suspect someone hacked into a John Muir High School teacher’s email account last week and sent naked pictures of the teacher to more than 200 students, staff and community members.

The July 10 email was sent from science teacher Richard Rosa’s Pasadena Unified School District account and reportedly contained four naked photos of the teacher.

Pasadena Police Commander John Perez said several people who received the email called the Police Department that day, which prompted an investigation.

“We don’t have anybody in custody. We do have leads,” Perez said. He didn’t say who they suspect as the culprit.

Perez said Rosa is not a suspect.

“We did talk to him, and we determined he was likely not the sender,” Perez said.

Police don’t know the motive and haven’t narrowed down from where the email was sent.

PUSD spokesman Adam Wolfson said district officials notified police when they learned about the message.

“We let Pasadena PD know because of the content of the email and because minors were on the distribution list,” Wolfson said.

Perez said he knows the sheriff’s Altadena station also got calls from email recipients.

Wolfson said Rosa’s status as a teacher has not changed since the incident and is expected to return to the classroom when school resumes in August. Rosa has taught at Muir High School for six years. He teaches AP biology, chemistry and biotechnology. He is the science department chair and lead teacher of the Business Academy.

Superintendent Jon R. Gundry sent an email to parents and staff informing them an “inappropriate email message” was sent from a PUSD email account.

“If you received this email, I would like to apologize for any harm this email might have caused and want to assure you that we are working with the relevant authorities to investigate the matter,” Gundry wrote.

Gundry directed people to call the district’s Human Resources Department with any questions or concerns.

Muir students are rallying behind their teacher.

Student Devin Perry created a “Save Mr. Rosa” petition on MoveOn.org, which had about 325 signatures Thursday afternoon.

“Mr. Rosa is one of the most professional teachers I know and I would hate for a great teacher to lose a job based on a mistake that may have been an accident,” the petitioner wrote. “Considering John Muir High School has a bad reputation, he’s one of the best teachers who cares about the students and actually shows that he wants to be there.”

Wolfson said the district is evaluating its online security system. The district uses a Google email system specifically for education.