A Loudoun County assistant principal was charged Monday with not reporting an inappropriate cell phone photo of an underage girl to the Sheriff’s Office, while three Ashburn day care workers were charged with not telling authorities that a teacher shook a toddler at the facility.

The unrelated cases, which are misdemeanors and punishable with up to a $500 fine, focus on the legal imperative to report allegations or incidents to authorities or child services, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said.

Freedom High School Assistant Principal Ting-Yi Oei was charged with a misdemeanor by the Sheriff’s Office and placed on paid administrative leave by Loudoun County Public Schools for not following state laws requiring notification.

Oei, a 59-year-old Reston educator who joined the school in 2005, obtained the photo from a student at the South Riding school on March 14 and did not report the incident to the girl’s parents. Deputies learned of the incident about three weeks later from another source, according to a Loudoun County sheriff’s statement.

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“For us, it’s the first of its kind,” Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde Byard said.

The case addresses the obligations educators face when they become aware of inappropriate photographs from students.

No charges have been brought in the production of the photograph, but Virginia law requires school administrators and health care operators to “report the matter immediately to the local department of the county or city wherein the child resides.”

“An inappropriate photo can rise to the level of child abuse on the fact that she is a minor,” said Kraig Troxell, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. “The law is on the books for a reason.”

Troxell would not release any details about the age of the student photographed. School officials would not comment further on the incident.

Similarly, day care workers must report accusations of suspected child abuse, Troxell said.

After a witness reported a teacher at the Kinder Care Day Care Center on Waxpool Road shook a toddler in January, to managers Linda E. Smith, 53, of Reston; Estrella Levy, 35, of Dumfries; and Adrienna Ballato, 28; the managers reportedly did not report the case to local authorities, Troxell said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com