The Mesa (Ariz.) Police Department announced late Wednesday that they have closed the case of a Red Mountain High School student who was arrested Saturday for allegedly exposing himself in a team photo that appeared in the school's yearbook and in programs sold at football games.
The announcement came several hours after a Maricopa County Attorney's Office representative announced that the office had decided against prosecuting the student.
"An assessment of the available evidence for the felony charge of furnishing harmful items to minors ... leads us to conclude that the evidence does not establish a violation of the statute," Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said in a statement issued Wednesday.
The case dates back to Saturday when the student, 19-year-old Hunter Osborn, was arrested by police after the school's principal reported that he had exposed himself in a team football photo that had been taken in August. Before the report, the revealing shot had been distributed in programs sold at football games, as well as the school's yearbook, without the school officials' knowing.
JUST IN: Yearbook photo that got #Mesa student arrested and statement from district https://t.co/iIvCrPvQhW pic.twitter.com/vWQlnYLd4w
— CBS 5 News (@CBS5AZ) May 2, 2016
Following the arrest, Osborn was booked on one felony count of furnishing obscene material to minors and 69 misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure - accounting for the 10 faculty members and 59 students who were present when Osborn exposed himself.
Osborn explained his actions to police, saying that he was dared by a Red Mountain High School teammate. He also took the time to apologize, saying he was "disgusted" by his actions.
Despite it being a prank, Osborn exposing himself to minors meant the possibility of being registered as a sex-offender - which many in the community objected to when they learned of the arrest on Monday. They banned together and started using the #FreeHunter hashtag to protest the potentially life-changing charges against him. Their protests had the same general theme: exposing himself wasn't the smartest thing to do, and while he does have to take responsibility, the charges are excessive.
It appears that those affected by the prank were of a similar mind, as when announcing that the case would be closed, police said it was because "all parties involved no longer desire prosecution" and declined to press charges.
