School official sent email asking staff for money to pay student's trafficker, group says

WASHINGTON (TND) — A Rhode Island assistant principal sent an email to faculty and staff allegedly asking for help to pay for a student's human trafficker.

Parents Defending Education investigative fellow Alex Nester joined The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat Tuesday morning to discuss the incident.

Stephanie Harvey, who was an assistant principal at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, reportedly sent an email to faculty and staff saying a student who crossed the border needs urgent support in raising $2,000 of a $5,000 payment to a group that helped him get to the U.S.

“They were raising money to send to 'Coyotes,' and in this email, they say that Coyotes are just a group of people that helps people and that couldn't be further from the truth," Nester said. "Anyone who has a TV and turns on the news would know that children have been sexually abused, neglected and have even died in the hands of these Coyotes.”

Nester went on to call the school official's move "ignorant and incredibly dangerous."

"These people who want to get across the border, they want a better life for themselves and their kids in the U.S and Coyotes, you know, extort them for these massive payments, like this $2,000 payment that they wanted this school to raise for them," she said. "And again, that's just absolutely dangerous."

Nester says it isn't clear if funds were actually raised but the school said if there was any money raised, it would be sent back to the donors.

You can watch the full interview below: