PIERSON, FLORIDA – A Fun Coast teacher resigned effective this week after he mistakenly projected the title of an X-Rated, gay YouTube video in front of the eyes of his middle school class. Jose Rosario-Gonzalez, a history teacher at T. Dewitt Taylor Middle-High School in Volusia County, resigned rather than face the possibility of being fired.

Rosario-Gonzalez, 53—citing “family/personal reasons”—turned in his letter of resignation three weeks ago, with an effective date of June 12, after the incident last month in which he unwittingly made public his viewing habits. According to officials, Rosario-Gonzalez connected his computer to a projector during class, with the intent of playing a YouTube video for students.

According to a complaint written by a student, “Mr. Rosario was on YouTube, he scrolled through his videos and there was history videos [sic], except for one. This one was titled ‘Gay Threesome Sex.’” The student described the reaction of students to the A/V faux pas. “The whole class was saying ‘eww,’ and ‘What is that doing on there?,’ and he just kept scrolling and didn’t say anything.” After seeing the X-rated item listed Rosario-Gonzalez’s viewing queue, at least one student reported the incident to a parent, who reported it to school officials.

An investigation determined that Rosario-Gonzalez, who taught at the school—which serves grades six through 12—for 12 years, used his school-owned laptop to access files “classified as homosexual pornography” on numerous occasions. Officials say that he did not deny doing so.

Records show that Rosario-Gonzalez has previously been disciplined for improper interactions with those in his classroom charge. In 2006, he was cited for making inappropriate comments to students. In March, he was put on a three-day unpaid leave for directing “students to his blog [that] they said sometimes included content or links to material laced with profanity and sexual overtones.” The suspension occurred after officials had previously warned him in October to cease.

Rosario-Gonzalez challenged his earlier reprimand and suspension. In letter written on April 5, he called the controversy surrounding his blog an effort to curtail his Constitutional right to free expression, and said that parents were engaged in a “witch hunt” against him.

School documents indicate that Rosario-Gonzalez called the “threesome” page-view incident an accident, and said that he “did this on his own time, in the privacy of his home and it was never his intention to show students.” In a blog statement, the teacher insisted that he never exposed students to any inappropriate content.

Volusia County school district officials say they are sending the results of their investigation to the Florida Department of Education. If investigators determine that probable cause exists to formally discipline Rosario-Gonzalez, the case may be sent to the Education Practices Commission for further review and penalties, which can range from a reprimand to revocation of a teacher’s license.