Porn Industry Says Ex-Performers (Stacie Halas, Shawn Loftis) Shouldn't be Banned From Teaching

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Stacie Halas.

Should that mean you can't be a successful reality show star or even a teacher? The case of Stacie Halas, the Oxnard school teacher accused of having performed in adult video, has set the porn industry abuzz.

And another case, that of male performer turned educator Shawn Loftis, got the official porn industry lobbying group talking, too:

The Free Speech Coalition this week ended its silence on the topic of adult video actors who leave the business and want to become teachers after Loftis was permitted to return to the classroom.

A Florida schools commission reinstated his credentials following his educational condemnation. Joanne Cachapero, communications director of the Coalition, told the Weekly:

This is a significant victory for Shawn and for other adult performers. There are many performers that are educated and have clean records - then, when they decide they would like to move on to another career, they find the only strike against them is that they have a history as an adult performer. That's a stigma that society places on them. Working in the adult industry is not a crime - it does not indicate you are immoral or a potential pedophile. Sadly, adult performers are often judged without consideration, when - here in LA - we have seen teachers that went through full background checks, now accused as alleged sex offenders.

Shawn feels that his experiences traveling the world while he was in the industry will make him a better teacher, and I have no doubt that is true. And the school officials in Orlando should be praised for their progressive approach toward Shawn's reinstatement.

Loftis was fired after district administrators in Miami found out he had a gay porn past. State officials, however, said his experience could provide a teaching moment. Really. They green lit his return to the classroom last week.

Halas, meanwhile, was taken off duty March 2 after a couple teachers reportedly discovered her work. Students already told administrators that they believed she had worked as a porn star, but the school officials, possibly stymied by the Oxnard district's porn filters, couldn't find the smoking gun.

Well, The Smoking Gun website reported last week that Halas, who's 31, worked in porn briefly six years ago, doing several shoots for a San Diego-based producer named Peter Romero, who told the site she was "one of my favorite models."

See NSFW photos of her work for Romero here.

Halas' case, by the way, is still up in the air.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]