Purported Photo of Nude Female Agoura High Staff Member May Have Been Circulated Via Facebook

Sheriff's investigators are looking into reports that the circulation of a photo of a nude woman, purported to be an  staff member, started on Facebook.

Sgt. Dan Scott of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau told Patch on Friday that his team is investigating a claim that a male physical fitness instructor originally posted the photo on his Facebook page and then removed it.

"Who circulated it and who it was sent to could change greatly what crime it is," Scott told the L.A. Weekly. "All of that is relevant to the investigation. Sending it to a minor with intent to arouse is much different than it just floating around."

Scott told Patch that neither he nor his team saw the photo on Facebook.

Scott said investigators have been told that shortly after the photo was posted it was taken down and in its place the person who posted it wrote that the image had been "Photoshopped." Scott declined to comment on whether the photo is actually of the staff member.

“We are not looking at [the staff member] as a suspect," . "... We do not believe she sent the photo to any student.”

A posting on a social media site claimed the photo was seen on the photo-sharing program Instagram.

The Acorn newspaper stated in a story on Thursday that "The photo was taken from the Facebook page of a male physical fitness trainer who reportedly works with the woman at Agoura Fitness in Agoura Hills."

The newspaper quoted an unnamed Las Virgenes Unified School District source as saying that the picture "was not faked" and was "subsequently copied and circulated by students at the high school."