Nude photos of dozens of Duxbury teens end up online

DUXBURY, Mass. — Someone posted racy photos of high school girls online and police are trying to find out who is responsible.

Duxbury police say someone posted several pictures of girls in “varying stages of undress" on the file sharing site Dropbox. While some were real, some of the photos were not, and some had a different picture attached to a girl's name.

Duxbury Superintendent Ben Tantillo told FOX25 a student notified administrators about the Dropbox file, which in addition to the pictures contained a list of names. Tantillo said the names of approximately 50 girls from Duxbury High School ended up on the site.

Tantillo said when high school staff found out, they notified police, who worked quickly with Dropbox to shut down the page.

The principal and assistant principal contacted every girl involved.

"There are some young people here who are very embarrassed and very upset. They are victims. They made a mistake and someone took advantage of that,” Duxbury Police Chief Matthew Clancy said.

Police say the students pictured knew they were being photographed and some were selfies. Some of the photos were not of the student named and some were not naked.

Parents in Duxbury say they are disappointed as word spreads about the explicit photos.

“It's very unfortunate for these girls, because these kind of things stick around for a long time,” parent Tom Phipps said.

“They probably thought it was funny, but the damage it's doing to them, it can't be undone,” parent Dara Souza said.

“I do think that they should know better, but I do think that people are taking advantage of this, especially boys," parent Ellen Morin said. "They probably think that it's a prank, they think it's funny, but in the long run, everybody gets hurt.”

Investigators are trying to determine who posted the pictures while also notifying victims and their families. Officers are working on a warrant to find the IP addresses of whoever created the site.

“It is something to discuss with your kids and be aware of and let your children know: make good choices,” Morin said.

Cox Media Group