MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A former Clarksville-Montgomery County science teacher accused of showing a student inappropriate photos has been arrested.
The Sumner County District Attorney’s Office, acting as a special prosecutor, presented the results of the law enforcement investigation into Mathew G. Vedder to a Montgomery County grand jury on July 7.
The grand jury indicted Vedder on four counts of exhibiting obscene material to a minor in violation of Tennessee law.
Vedder was taken into custody Wednesday by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. His bond was set at $10,000, and he has since bonded out of jail, according to the sheriff’s office.
The arrest comes months after student Makenzie Ellithorpe said Vedder showed her between six and eight nude photos on his phone during science class in March.
Makenzie said Vedder continued scrolling through the images and that the incident did not appear to be accidental.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System previously said an inappropriate photo was “accidentally briefly” displayed while Vedder was showing an appropriate image to a student.
CMCSS said Wednesday that it had been informed of the misdemeanor charges but that law enforcement had not reported anything different to the district than what was initially reported on March 9. The district said it also had not been notified of any additional concerns uncovered during the investigation.
Vedder resigned from CMCSS on April 9 while he was assigned to an alternative worksite and outside agencies investigated.
The district said that based on what law enforcement initially reported, even an accidental display of inappropriate content could have led to disciplinary action, including possible dismissal for conduct unbecoming.
CMCSS said there were no previous investigations or disciplinary records involving Vedder. The district has now submitted its final report regarding Vedder to the State Board of Education.
In June, Makenzie addressed the school board publicly about the incident.
“I no longer felt safe in a place where I was supposed to feel protected,” she told board members.
Vedder is the husband of Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder.
Assistant District Attorney General Nathan Nichols has been assigned to prosecute the case.
The Sumner County District Attorney’s Office said it does not plan to release any additional statements until the case is over.
“We also remind everyone that Mr. Vedder is innocent until proven guilty,” the office said.
You can read the full statement from the Sumner County District Attorney’s Office below:
On July 7, 2026, the Sumner County District Attorney's Office, acting as special prosecutor, presented the results of a law enforcement investigation into Matthew G. Vedder, a former Montgomery County high school teacher, to the Montgomery County Grand Jury. After this presentation, the Grand Jury voted to issue an indictment against Vedder which alleges four counts of exhibiting obscene material to a minor in violation of TCA 39-17-911. Mr. Vedder was taken into custody today by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and a Montgomery County Judge set his bond at $10,000.
General Dean has assigned Assistant District Attorney General Nathan Nichols to prosecute Mr. Vedder's case.
While it is not the usual practice of this office to issue statements about pending cases, given the public interest in this matter, we felt the need to inform the public about this development. This will be the only statement our office will make about this case until it has concluded. We also remind everyone that Mr. Vedder is innocent until proven guilty.
You can read the full response from Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools below:
We were informed of the misdemeanor charges today. However, law enforcement has not reported anything different to the District than what was officially reported on March 9, nor has the District been informed of any additional concerns revealed during their investigation. Therefore, I will reiterate our consistent statement on the matter (below) and must defer to law enforcement on any additional information. To confirm, since the previous statement, the final report was submitted to the State Board of Education:
On Thursday, April 9, Matthew Vedder resigned from CMCSS while assigned to alternative worksite, pending the outcome of the investigations. By resigning, he waives any rights to due process from CMCSS, which is afforded to all tenured teachers by state law. Since there are ongoing external investigations, CMCSS has no information regarding the investigations, and I cannot speculate on the outcome of the investigations. However, based on what was officially reported to CMCSS by law enforcement on March 9, even an accidental display of inappropriate content could have resulted in disciplinary action up to and including charges of dismissal for conduct unbecoming. CMCSS has already submitted the initial report regarding a licensed educator under review to the State Board of Education, and CMCSS will submit the final report.
Since there are ongoing external investigations and there were no prior investigations or disciplinary records, I must defer to law enforcement and DCS on any records related to their investigations, as CMCSS is not the custodian of those records.
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