Summit County Prosecutor investigates whether Hudson classroom material is ‘sexually explicit’

HUDSON, Ohio (WOIO) - The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office is looking into whether a book being used in Hudson City Schools is inappropriate for students.

The book in question is “642 Things to Write About.” It’s described on Amazon as “a collection of outrageous and witty writing prompts.”

District administrators said they learned last Friday the book was being used for college-level courses.

Many parents in the district are outraged and disgusted by the book, calling it “sexually explicit.”

Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert is now pushing for the school board to be held responsible.

At Monday’s school board meeting, the mayor told the board: “It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing what is essentially child pornography in the classroom. I’ve spoken with the judge this evening; she’s already confirmed that. So, I’m going to give you a simple choice. You either choose to resign from this Board of Education, or you will be charged.”

The district told 19 News they have since collected the books and discontinued their use.

In a statement to us, the district said, in part, “The Board of Education will be ensuring a thorough investigation and process review has taken place and will utilize the results of the investigation to determine any necessary actions to be taken. While we respect the mayor’s position, at this time no Board of Education member has indicated any intention to resign.”

Following Monday’s meeting, the Hudson Police Department was made aware of the allegations of child porn within the school district made by Mayor Shubert.

The police department said because of the close working relationship with Hudson schools and local elected officials, the department asked the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office to “review the materials related to the meeting and accusations made by Mayor Shubert.”

“These allegations have resulted in threats being made against board members, faculty and administrators in Hudson. Those threats must stop,” said Prosecutor Walsh. “Under Ohio law, a prompt about a fictional writing is not child pornography. We will review this matter and determine if there is a factual basis that any laws were broken either by the writing prompts or the threats that have been made.”

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