Reno Ferris, a 29-year-old physical education teacher and coach at Global Academy of Phoenix IB, faces two class 4 felony counts alleging that he provided or furnished obscene material to a minor. The alleged recipient was a 14-year-old former student. Ferris was taken into custody in Phoenix on September 16, according to court records described by ABC15 Arizona.
How the charges apply to online conduct
The charges concern communications through social-media and messaging services. Arizona law distinguishes the general offense of furnishing harmful material to a minor from a separate provision covering material sent through internet communications. Both offenses are class 4 felonies, according to the legal explanation cited by Tamou Law Group. That explanation says the offenses can carry as much as 3.75 years in prison and fines of up to $150,000. Under A.R.S. § 13-3821(C), a sentencing judge may have discretion to require sex-offender registration for certain qualifying offenses, as provided by the Arizona Legislature.
Evidence described in the case account
The case account, citing records, says Phoenix police became involved on September 8 after a Department of Child Safety call concerning the teenager and an allegation that she may have been groomed by her former PE teacher. During a September 14 forensic interview, she told investigators that she had communicated with Ferris since mid-August on X, Instagram, Tumblr and Snapchat. The records allege that Ferris sent explicit photographs through Snapchat, discussed sexual acts with her and acknowledged that she was underage while saying he liked their age difference.
What the district publicly says about electronic communication
The Alhambra Elementary School District identifies ParentSquare as its primary platform for school announcements, reminders and two-way messaging with teachers and staff, according to the district. The publicly identified platform provides context for how the district says school-related electronic communication is handled, but the information cited here does not set out additional staff-to-student rules.
The district says it operates 17 elementary schools, a preschool and a family resource center serving more than 10,000 students from preschool through eighth grade.
The records also allege that two videos were sent to the teenager through X on September 6. Investigators later found the videos on her devices after her mother consented to digital forensic extractions. A warrant was submitted to X on September 15, and the platform confirmed the next day that the account’s registration information was connected to Ferris, ABC15 reported while citing the case records.
Statements attributed to Ferris and court restrictions
According to the account of the records, Ferris acknowledged after receiving Miranda warnings that he had communicated with the teenager online, engaged in inappropriate sexual conversations with her and sent at least one pornographic video through X. He reportedly said he understood the conduct was wrong and knew she was underage, while also saying they had never met in person and had communicated only through messages.
At Ferris’s initial court appearance, Maricopa County prosecutor Brooke Gaunt sought strict release terms. The judge set secured bond at $75,000 and ordered electronic monitoring, a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and no contact with the alleged victim or any minor except Ferris’s 7-month-old son. The conditions also restrict internet use to legal matters, bar him from owning or accessing a smartphone, prohibit him from leaving Arizona and require compliance with any protection order, according to ABC15 Arizona.
School response
The Alhambra Elementary School District placed Ferris on administrative leave on September 15 and said in a statement reported by ABC15 that it takes allegations involving student safety seriously. Global Academy of Phoenix is identified in the article as a public K–8 school in the Alhambra district; the school’s public-school and grade-level information is also listed by Niche.
