When the coronavirus pandemic hit, everything went online, including work and school. As one would expect, crazy online mishaps have started to occur more regularly because Zoom calls are now so normal in our society. And for Marc Schack, this mishap might cost him his career.

Schack, a teacher’s aide at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Gaithersburg, Maryland was caught masturbating on a Zoom call on February 22. The teacher was then put on paid administrative leave after his story went viral. He reportedly learned about the video days after the incident, when the school called him to inform him of his status.

“I didn’t do anything intentionally, not malicious. I meant no harm because I didn’t even know I was on the recording,” he said in one of his interviews.

For the last twenty-one years, Shack has been working at Shady Grove Middle School. Schack had thought an online lesson with 8th graders had ended and proceeded to have some alone time to “take care of himself.” But while he was masturbating, he had no idea that the virtual call lesson was still going. He said that he was unaware the call hadn’t ended.

He said, “I thought I was logged out when class was over. I had no clue that Zoom was still on. Why would I do that? That’s my job. I had no clue that Zoom was on. I mean, that’s just crazy behavior.”

“I’m not a pervert or anything like that, you know,” Schack said.

He asserted that he never meant to expose his students to the sex act or hurt them in any way.

“You gotta believe me on that …,” he said. “I thought I was in the privacy of my own home. I had no clue.”

The video of the incident shows Schack gazing at the screen, before getting up and turning around to pleasure himself. School principal Alana Murray has asked students to “take down the content and refrain from sharing with other students.”

Officer Rick Goodale, a spokesman for the Montgomery County police also confirmed that the police are investigating the incident, and declined to comment further.

Schack told Bethesda Magazine that the school system called him on Monday after he had been placed on administrative leave. They told him that they had “misplaced his background check file.” This struck fear in his heart.

According to reports, Schack won’t face any charges. According to them, Montgomery County police said, “investigators conferred with the State’s Attorney’s Office and it was determined that the incident did not rise to the level of a criminal offense under Maryland law.”

Watch the video report below for more details:

Sources: AWM, Bethesda Magazine