LARGO, Fla (WFLA) — A teacher at Pinellas Preparatory Academy is accused of trying to send obscene material to a minor.

Lee Hughes was arrested Thursday and has since been fired from the school. Court documents said he was having conversations with an undercover agent about possible sexual intercourse with a 9-year-old girl since last June.

Dash camera video from Ashley Snodgrass’s car showed a man in a plaza parking lot Thursday, walking to parked trailer with a teddy bear in his hand. Moments later, law enforcement approached him with guns drawn. The man put his hands up, dropped the bear, and followed their instructions.

“It’s a little crazy that it was — it’s just more something you see on TV rather than right in front of you,” Snodgrass said.

She said U.S. Marshall officers approached her shortly after.

“The undercover did say that it was the bust, and he thought he was meeting a little girl to have sex with,” Snodgrass said.

Then Friday, she got an email from her child’s school, PPA, saying a third-grade teacher, Mr. Huges, was arrested due to events involving a child or children outside of the Pinellas Prep community. The school said they took immediate action and terminated his employment.

Snodgrass said when she zoomed in on the video, and saw Hughes mugshot posted online, that’s how she knew it was him. Parents at the school spoke anonymously about the arrest.

“My son had him last year. And I talked to my son about it after I heard about it and my son didn’t have anything negative to say about him,” said one parent. “I wish the police had been more forthcoming with the information that they had so that, again, students potentially wouldn’t have been unnecessarily at risk.”

“I don’t feel very safe with my kid at the moment,” said another parent. “Scared for my daughter’s safety here. I mean, don’t want anything like that to happen to my daughter. She’s supposed to trust these people.”

Court documents show since June 2024 Hughes was messaging an undercover account about the sexual abuse he’d like to inflict upon a 9-year-old girl. He requested child pornography of her. The documents outline his graphic conversations about his sexual desires toward the child.

It was also confirmed that Thursday, Hughes went to an agreed upon location to meet the 9-year-old girl where he was arrested and admitted to his conduct in an interview with authorities.

The location where the dash camera video was taken is about four miles from PPA.