Parents in East Yorkshire, England, are outraged after children were exposed to porn during a harvest sing-song at the United Reformed Church that was part of the church’s 150th-anniversary celebrations.
During the sing-along in the town of Hornsea with pupils from Hornsea Community Primary School, explicit images unexpectedly appeared on the big screen used to display song lyrics, according to The Sun.
Teachers quickly intervened to turn off the X-rated images, which had been streamed from a laptop operated by church volunteers, GB News reported.
“One minute the children are singing ‘We Plough The Fields And Scatter,’ the next the church is showing the pupils utter filth,” the Sun quoted an anonymous parent as saying. “The 6- and 7-year-olds were gobsmacked and didn’t know where to look.”
The school, which has an enrollment of 550 pupils, immediately sent a letter to parents apologizing for the incident.
“As part of the singing, a church computer screen was used to share the song words,” read the letter. “The church volunteers used their laptop to do this, and unfortunately for a few seconds, some inappropriate content was shown on the screen. Our staff immediately intervened and removed this from the screen. We are not sure if the children were aware of this and we have not spoken to them about it.”
The letter added, “Mrs. Semper, our safeguarding lead, is following it up to ensure the church deals with this in an appropriate manner.”
Council safeguarding staff were reportedly notified and prepared to assist any children who might have been affected.
The event was intended to be a celebration of the harvest season.
Teachers at the event were praised for their swift action in removing the inappropriate content from the screen.
An elder at the church was quoted as saying, “There’s nothing to defend here. We will just let the process take its course. It’s in the hands of the professionals.”
Both the church and local authorities are conducting investigations into the matter, according to GB News.