Ceres High School Teacher Accused Of 'Sexting' 16-Year-Old Student

CERES (CBS13) - A 24-year-old teacher was arrested Wednesday by Ceres police after a mother reported her 16-year-old daughter received inappropriate, explicit text messages from him over the weekend.

Matthew Beale is a first-year math teacher at Whitmore Charter High School. A parent complained to the Ceres Unified School District on Tuesday about the text messages. The Ceres police school resource officer was notified and Beale was immediately placed on administrative leave.

Ceres detectives took over the investigation and discovered the student and teacher corresponded via hundreds of text messages over the weekend. Among those text messages was a request from Beale for the student to send him "sexy" pictures of herself, police said.

Detectives also found that Beale had sent the student a photograph of his genitals.
Beale and the student allegedly met in his classroom on Monday during lunchtime to make out.

Detectives went to Beale's home in Turlock on Wednesday and confronted him with copies of the text messages, at which point he reportedly admitted to his involvement with the student and was arrested.

Beale was charged with sending harmful material to a minor and for lewd and lascivious acts on a minor - both misdemeanors. He was booked at the Stanislaus County Jail.

Ceres detectives believe this is an isolated incident, but anyone with any information about Beale related to this case is asked to call Detective Arthur Hively at (209) 537-5728.