Former Miss Kentucky, accused of sending nude photos to student, could face 20 years in prison.
The 2014 Miss Kentucky winner could face 20 years in prison for allegedly sending nude photos on Snapchat to a juvenile boy she taught in West Virginia, according to media reports.
Ramsey Carpenter Bearse, 28, was arrested in West Virginia Friday and was charged with four felony counts of distributing or displaying obscene matter to a minor, the Associated Press reported.
Known as “The Girl with the Green Fiddle” from her time on the pageant circuit, Bearse was an eighth-grade science teacher at Andrew Jackson Middle School in Cross Lanes, according to ABC News.
A parent informed police about nude photos on their 15-year-old son’s phone. Bearse admitted to sending nude photos on Snapchat, according to CBS News. The photos were of her “nude breast/chest area,” the West Virginia Metro News reported.
The parent claimed Bearse was the boy’s teacher at the middle school, according to the AP.
Bearse was released on a $10,000 bond Friday after being arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, according to West Virginia Metro News. She did not provide a comment at the arraignment.
The magistrate said if she is convicted, she faces 20 years in prison and $100,000 in fines, WCHS-TV reported.
Bearse, who competed in the pageant circuit as Ramsey Carpenter, has been married to a coal mining executive since 2016, ABC News reported.
In a release on Facebook, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said Bearse has been suspended from her teaching position.
Kanawha County Schools’ own release stated, “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,” according to WCHS-TV.
The case is a wake-up call to parents and young children, Sgt. Brian Humphreys of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News.
“There are a lot of bad situations that can arise because of naive understanding of how social media works,” Humphreys said. “So it’s important as a parent to monitor those things, keep tabs on who your children are communicating with.”
A University of Kentucky graduate and Ohio County native, Bearse’s platform when winning Miss Kentucky was raising awareness of multiple sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with in 2010. She served as an ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
She told the Herald-Leader in 2014 she was not looking for pity, but was wanting people to understand the disease.
A statement provided from the Miss Kentucky Scholarship Organization stated it “does not approve of the alleged behavior which led to the legal allegations and recent arrest” of Bearse.
Bearse is the second Kentucky pageant winner to be arrested since 2017. Last year, 2011 Miss Kentucky USA winner Kia Hampton was indicted for allegedly smuggling marijuana into an Ohio jail.
This story was originally published December 10, 2018 at 9:42 AM.