GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WZZM) - A Byron Center 9th grade teacher tells a jury he never took a picture up the skirt of a 15 year old student.
And the prosecution is unable to present a photograph as evidence.
"I did not have the lens under her skirt," said suspended science teacher Steven Sanger during testimony Thursday in Kent County Circuit Court.
The 40 year old veteran teacher faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted on the "capturing images of undergarments being worn" charge.
During his testimony Sanger says he was reviewing pictures on his digital camera when the 9th grader came to his desk to discuss a test score.
He says he held the camera in his left hand while using his right to correct her exam paper.
At no time, he insists, was the lens pointed under her skirt.
"I had it in my hands with the lens up," he told the jury. "Her skirt was not over my lap, there was a distance between us. I didn't have it under her skirt."
There is no photo of the girl on Sanger's digital camera.
In her testimony the student suggested he might have used a different camera.
The prosecution did not present any proof the teacher had another camera or ever borrowed one of the school cameras.
The girl accused the teacher of taking the up-skirt photograph after learning she failed Sanger's science class.
Wednesday prosecutor Helen Brinkman rested her case, but after hearing the teacher's testimony Thursday decided to recall some witnesses before the jury begins deliberations.
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