‘He picked the wrong family’: Former Montgomery County teacher arrested for showing nude photos to a student

What This Story Is About

• The former Montgomery Central High School teacher accused of showing nude photos to a student was arrested Wednesday morning.

Why It Matters

• In March, a student accused Matthew Vedder of showing her nude photos on his cell phone while in class.

What Happens Next

• The Montgomery County District Attorney told WSMV he recused his team from the case. Instead, it will be prosecuted in Sumner County.

For Context

• The parents of the victim, Ashley and Adam Ellithorpe, have spent months pushing law enforcement and the district to hold Vedder accountable.

Catch Up

• The victim spoke at a CMCSS school board meeting in June, saying she believes the district has been trying to silence her.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The former Montgomery Central High School teacher accused of showing nude photos to a student was arrested Wednesday morning.

Matthew Vedder, 52, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on four counts of supplying obscene material to a minor. His bond was set at $10,000, and he bonded out of jail Wednesday afternoon.

In March, a student accused Vedder of showing her nude photos on his cell phone while in class.

At the time, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System’s chief communications officer confirmed the incident occurred but said the teacher displayed the photos briefly by mistake.

Vedder was placed on an alternative work site off school property and later resigned.

The district responded to the arrest Wednesday saying they were informed of the charges that day, but that law enforcement didn’t report anything different to the district than what was officially reported in March.

They went on to reiterate their previous statement on the situation:

On Thursday, April 9, Matthew Vedder resigned from CMCSS while assigned to alternative worksite, pending the outcome of the investigations. By resigning, he waives any rights to due process from CMCSS, which is afforded to all tenured teachers by state law. Since there are ongoing external investigations, CMCSS has no information regarding the investigations, and I cannot speculate on the outcome of the investigations. However, based on what was officially reported to CMCSS by law enforcement on March 9, even an accidental display of inappropriate content could have resulted in disciplinary action up to and including charges of dismissal for conduct unbecoming. CMCSS has already submitted the initial report regarding a licensed educator under review to the State Board of Education, and CMCSS will submit the final report.

Since there are ongoing external investigations and there were no prior investigations or disciplinary records, I must defer to law enforcement and DCS on any records related to their investigations, as CMCSS is not the custodian of those records.

Vedder is married to CMCSS superintendent Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder.

The parents of the victim, Ashley and Adam Ellithorpe, have spent months pushing law enforcement and the district to hold Vedder accountable.

“I told people on March the 9 when this happened, I said, ‘I’m going to be going Facebook Live every day until my daughter gets justice, every single day,’” Adam told WSMV Wednesday.

Their daughter Makenzie spoke at a CMCSS school board meeting in June, saying she believes the district has been trying to silence her.

“Makenzie’s whole purpose was, it wasn’t about her,” Ashley said. “She was the one that wanted to speak out. We didn’t tell her to. We didn’t make her. It was, ‘I’ve got to stop this. If he’s going to do it to me, he’s going to do it to others,’ and she was going to make it stop.”

“That’s something we try to instill in our family is that we want to stand on what’s right and do the right thing, and unfortunately, he picked the wrong family,” Adam added.

They say the event has traumatized Makenzie and will stay with her even as she goes off to college in the fall.

“[She said] ‘Why would he pick me to do this?’” Ashley said. “She would go back and ask these questions all over again. ‘Well, I had other male teachers. They were like father figures to me. I thought he would be the same.’”

Adam says the situation has taught him to always listen to and believe his children.

“There’s a lot of people out there that discredit their child because, ‘Oh, well, Mr. So-and-so’s been a teacher so long or his wife’s the superintendent,’” Adam said. “This goes to show you that no matter how close to the top somebody is, they can still be guilty.”

The Montgomery County District Attorney told WSMV he recused his team from the case. Instead, it will be prosecuted in Sumner County.