Wichita teacher charged over child porn sent troubling texts on Father’s Day, woman says
The woman who turned a Wichita high school teacher in to police for texting concerning messages allegedly depicting child pornography says she reported him because it was the right thing to do and so he “wouldn’t be in our schools again this fall.”
In an interview with The Eagle that took place this week over Facebook Messenger, Nicole Haralambidis said she received the alarming texts from Shawn Wingfield on Father’s Day.
Wingfield, 48, was arrested on a warrant over the weekend by Wichita police and is now charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, both felonies. He taught gifted English and debate at Wichita Northwest High School — and also said on his Facebook page that he was teaching summer school this year — until his abrupt resignation on July 19.
But he was still a teacher when Haralambidis says he sent the troubling texts.
His public defender declined to comment on the charges.
“There were images and video references to child pornography as well as him stating information about a child he wanted to act upon his urges with,” Haralambidis wrote to an Eagle reporter about the messages she received.
She described the child Wingfield allegedly referred to in his texts as a girl in her young teens but did not give specific details about the message content.
After receiving the texts from Wingfield around 8 p.m. on June 20, “I was terrified and upset,” Haralambidis said, adding that she was so disturbed that “much of that evening is a blur.”
“I contacted the police Monday afternoon.”
She said on Facebook that she had to turn her phone “and its entire contents” over to the authorities and was questioned for a lengthy amount of time after making the report.
“I have children. It was my duty as a mother, a woman, and a relatively decent human being to do what needed to be done,” she wrote on Facebook.
Haralambidis told The Eagle that she and Wingfield know one another because they started dating in mid-May.
She says initially his intelligence attracted her.
“He was very smart and able to maintain my interest in conversation.”
She immediately ended their relationship on Father’s Day after receiving the alarming texts.
“I ghosted him. No contact,” she wrote.
Before he sent the messages, Haralambidis said Wingfield came across as “misunderstood and lonely.”
Now, she has a different opinion.
“Nothing that is fit to print honestly,” she told The Eagle.
She says she doesn’t know why he sent her the messages or confided in her about wanting to act out sexual urges with a child.
“That is the one question I have. Why me?”
Wichita Public Schools spokeswoman Susan Arensman said Monday that Wingfield worked for the district for nearly 24 years before he resigned earlier this month. In a July 19 public Facebook post, Wingfield wrote that he ended his employment for “reasons involving personal health and well being” and said that his departure was “the best decision for myself” as well as “for the district and my students.” He gave no other details.
Wingfield remained in the Sedgwick County Jail on Thursday in lieu of $50,000 bond. His next court date is Aug. 12, the same day school starts for Wichita public school children.
