DELTA, Ohio —
UPDATE: As of Nov. 25, 2024, an internal investigation from the high school cleared the principal of any wrongdoing in the incident. Additional, the Village of Delta's prosecutor declined to prosecute the principal.
A Delta mom is going viral on TikTok, picking up more than a half-million views, after claiming her son was strip-searched at the high school earlier this month.
Tiffany Sargent says her freshman son was brought into the principal's office for having a cellphone out in class.
"He was on his phone. He was in violation of the school rules," she said.
Sargent says her son lied to principal Doug Ford by claiming he did not have a cellphone on him, and Ford then searched her son with a metal director wand.
When it picked up on the cellphone, which was hidden between the waistband of his pants and the shorts he was wearing underneath them, Sargent says Ford told her son to drop his pants.
Her son complied and his phone was revealed.
Sargent says her son was rightfully given an in-school suspension as a punishment, which he served.
But, she says Ford should have never asked her son to remove his pants without her or another adult in the room.
"My issue is how you went about getting the cellphone," Sargent, who has posted multiple videos to her TikTok page regarding the incident, said. "If he was a girl, this would have been blown up way more than it is."
Now, Sargent says she wants to see Ford removed from his position as principal.
"The superintendent, I actually have a voicemail I'm going to post from him last night, stating that he doesn't feel that Doug did anything wrong and that he will still be acting principal," she said.
Sargent says Jon Burke, superintendent of Pike-Delta-York Schools, said her son cannot return until a meeting is held together with him and Ford. But Sargent says she doesn't want to have that meeting without a lawyer.
The school district provided WTOL 11 with the following statement:
"As a district, we value our relationships with students, staff, and parents. While we are aware of the situation, we will not be commenting on the specifics of this incident out of respect for the privacy of all involved."
"It makes you feel like you failed your kid because he should have known that Doug had no right to make him take those pants off, period. And he didn't, he doesn't know his rights. So I clearly feel like I failed as a mom because I didn't teach him that," Sargent said.
Sargent reported the incident to the Delta Police Department, which confirmed that one had been filed and that the situation is under investigation.