MEZA, Ariz. – An Arizona man has been charged with furnishing harmful items to minors and indecent exposure after he admitted to exposing himself in a varsity football yearbook photo, authorities said.
Hunter Osborn, 19, was 18 years old at the time of the photo. He told Mesa police that he exposed himself on a dare from another player. He was arrested Saturday.
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Osborn is charged with one count of furnishing harmful items to minors and 69 counts of indecent exposure, one for every person who was there when the photo was taken.
NBC affiliate KPNX obtained court documents that say that Osborn "exposed his penis through the top of his waistband of his football uniform." Nobody noticed it when the yearbook was distributed to Red Mountain High School students.
A total of 250 pre-ordered yearbooks went out before anyone noticed the photo. The picture was also in a football program sold at games.
"The district is dismayed by the actions of the students involved in the photograph," a school statement read. "Their behavior does not reflect the values of Red Mountain High School or Mesa Public Schools."
Other players who knew about the prank could face disciplinary action.
Some students felt Osborn's punishment was excessive.
"I think they're a little harsh and unfair for probably something he regrets now, " Brooke Bodrero said.
A petition titled "Free Hunter Osborn" has been shared across the internet, with more than 740 supporters on Osborn's side.
The petition reads, in part:
"Hunter Osborn, now 19, is supposed to graduate high school this year. But because of a prank encouraged by his fellow teammates on the Red Mountain High School football team to expose himself in a team photo earlier in the year, he may not get that chance.
"He didn't put the picture in the yearbook, he didn't create the page, he wasn't the editor that approved it or the teacher responsible for publishing it and distributing it to students. The teacher responsible for the yearbook should be fired."
According to KPNX, Osborn has been released from jail but was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.