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Mother defends administrator in obscene photo controversy

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A parent is speaking out in support of an assistant principal accused of showing an obscene cellphone picture to an 11-year-old girl.

Parents told Channel 2's John Bachman that the administrator at DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts hasn't been at the school for a week. Now they are worried she won't be back, so they are coming to her defense.

"(The assistant principal's) main goal is to help me come to a resolution to find out what was going on with my child," said the mother of a student who originally received the photo. "I feel like I have an obligation to help her because she was basically doing her job."

The mother, who requested her identity to be withheld for her daughter's protection, said she went to the assistant principal to contact the parents of the student who sent the photo.

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But it turns out that her daughter attached Azure Dasgupta's name to a boy's phone number. Azure and her mother, in a news conference last week, said the assistant principal showed Azure the graphic image and tried to bully her into admitting she sent it.

"And then she said, 'Did you do his' and she just made me feel like I did something wrong," Azure said.

Azure's family is also calling for the firing of the assistant principal, but the mother of the other student involved insists that the incident should not cost the administrator her job.

"That is not her character to bully a child or force a child into saying or doing anything," the mother said, noting that she does understand why Azure's family is so upset.

"I'm sorry that happened. I'm sorry she was involved. I'm sorry she was pulled in any way," she added.

The mother said she plans to organize a campaign in support of the assistant principal.