A Harrisburg high school teacher accused of accidentally sending pornographic photos of an underage girl to students and staff at the district’s John Harris Campus has officially been terminated by the district’s receiver.

Victor M. Ordonez, who worked as a U.S. history teacher at John Harris, was fired Monday evening when receiver Janet Samuels approved a “resolution and statement of charges” for his termination.

Last month, eight felony child pornography charges and a felony charge of criminal use of a communications facility were filed against Ordonez after Harrisburg police said he accidentally sent nude images of an underage girl from his phone to Harrisburg students’ and teachers’ electronic devices.

Ordonez accidentally sent the images in the morning hours of Sept. 12 when he entered his classroom and connected his phone to the building’s wireless internet, police said.

After connecting to the wireless internet, Ordonez also accidentally activated his phone’s airdrop function, which allows it to send files to other nearby devices, police said. Through that airdrop, nude photos of what appeared to be a naked child were sent to students and staff at the school, police said.

“Once these photos appeared on Ordonez’s phone, he made the school administrators aware of the incident,” police said. “School administrators were not sure who the female was in the photos.”

Later, more than 300 suspected child pornographic images were found on Ordonez’s phone, some depicting children that appeared to be as young as 8 to 12 years old, investigators said.

District officials have since said, “Police do not believe the pornography found in his possession included photos or videos of any of his students.”

Ordonez was placed on administrative leave after the Sept. 12 incident and was not permitted on district grounds or near any students, school officials said.

On Monday, Lori Lillis, Harrisburg School District’s director of human resources, said she could not disclose any information about Ordonez’s termination, including whether he is entitled to any ongoing benefits.

Lillis described the termination as simply a legal process that must now play out.

Ordonez was hired to a Harrisburg teaching position in August 2017 and completed all state and federal background checks, which were again verified this past summer, officials said.

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