Deputies: Teacher gave student phone for sexting

BRANDON (FOX 13) - A former middle school teacher was arrested Monday after deputies say he tried to get a teenage student to send nude photos from her phone.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says it was back in April when Michael Geist, then a science teacher at Rogers Middle School in Riverview, gave the girl a smart phone loaded with apps and asked her to send "sexual communications" to other students.

"Geist requested the student take sexually explicit pictures and video of herself in sexual situations," an HCSO statement explained.

School staff members found out in May and notified deputies. Geist, 31, resigned when their investigation began.

Geist appears to have had conduct issues in the past. According to a memo sent by the principal, he was talked to before, regarding actions like being alone with female students and sending personal emails to a student outside of school hours.

He apparently also encouraged the student to whom he allegedly gave the phone to "twerk" during class.

Geist was hired in February of this year and passed a background check. 

Monday, Geist was arrested at his Brandon home and jailed on a charge of lewd or lascivious conduct solicitation.  He was released early this morning after posting $7,500 bond.