Harnett County school resource officer accused of watching porn on campus, officials say

LILLINGTON, N.C. (WNCN) — A Harnett County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer has been removed from assignment over accusations of watching pornography at school, officials said.

SRO J.J. Hemphill is no longer at West Harnett High School. The sheriff’s office told CBS 17 it is investigating this issue, and it will take the appropriate actions to make sure the faculty members and parents of students feel comfortable at the school again.

Several parents said they are horrified at these accusations.

“His watching this stuff not on his own personal time is very unprofessional,” one parent said.

The Harnett School District declined to comment and referred this case over to the sheriff’s office. School officials added the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for hiring school deputies.

“If you don’t have enough restraint to keep yourself from looking at that kind of stuff, especially away from kids, then it’s like you don’t need to be working around kids to begin with,” said parent Andrew Reinheimer.

Another parent, Michael Wheeler, said his kids are at West Harnett High School weekly for after school activities and he’s expecting big changes after this.

“Knowing that this is what was happening at that school is 100% unacceptable,” said Wheeler. “Students shouldn’t be in anywhere near that, especially in a school environment. It’s a government-paid organization. That shouldn’t be happening.”