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Former beauty queen sent nude pictures to 15-year-old student on Snapchat, police say

Ramsey Bearse, now a teacher at Andrew Jackson Middle School in Cross Lanes, accused of sending boy at least four topless photos

Toyin Owoseje
Monday 10 December 2018 10:47 GMT
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Ramsey Bearse has been arrested and charged with sending nude photographs of herself to a 15-year-old boy.
Ramsey Bearse has been arrested and charged with sending nude photographs of herself to a 15-year-old boy. (Kanawha Sheriff )

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A former beauty pageant queen is facing up to 20 years in prison after allegedly sending nude photographs of herself to a 15-year-old boy.

Ramsey Bearse, now a teacher at Andrew Jackson Middle School outside Charleston, West Virginia, was arrested and charged with distribution or display of obscene matter to minors after allegedly sending the lewd images to the former student.

According to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, Ms Bearse sent the teenager at least four topless photos using multimedia messaging app Snapchat over a period of three months.

The boy's parents raised the alarm after discovering the photos on his phone and reported the 28-year-old to police on Friday, local news station WSAZ reports.

The criminal complaint states that the underage boy was a student at Andrew Jackson from sixth to eighth grade and that Ms Bearse was a teacher there during some of that time.

Following her arrest, investigators say Ms Bearse admitted to sending the images to the boy between August and October.

When she was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court she said: "I have no comment to make to you all at this time."

The multiple sclerosis sufferer was released on a $10,000 (£7,860) bail.

Ms Bearse has been suspended from her teaching position at Andrew Jackson Middle School.

Kanawha County Schools said in a statement: “Mrs Bearse is a teacher at Andrew Jackson Middle School. We cannot comment on personnel matters, but we will follow all applicable policies and procedures.

“The safety and security of our students is our top priority.”

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Ms Bearse, who competed in pageants under the name Ramsey Carpenter- her maiden name before she married coal magnate Charles 'Chas' Bearse in July 2016 - was named Miss Kentucky in 2014.

She went on to compete for the Miss America title in 2015 where she finished in the top 12. In the competition, her talent was playing the fiddle.

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