Updated (April 23, 2019): Several Texas law enforcement officials are feeling unemployed after getting out of hand with the “feeling cute” challenge.
Two Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees have reportedly resigned, and four others were fired for participating in the stunt.
“The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is aware of the so-called ‘feeling cute challenge’ currently on social media impacting dozens of corrections and law enforcement agencies nationwide,” spokesperson Jeremy Desel said in a statement to People magazine.
“Currently six of the more than 25,000 correctional officers employed by this agency are under investigation for on and off-duty conduct violations as a result of the alleged posting of inappropriate photographs on social media.”
They’re not the only ones in trouble.
A few Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) employees have also been reprimanded for their posts, according to KOCO.
"We've been monitoring the posts since they began," ODOC spokesman Matthew Elliott said. "We're continuing our investigation and may take additional action."
Investigations are also pending in Missouri and Georgia.
The challenge started as a joke, but some corrections officers began encouraging inmate maltreatment while participating.
According to The Houston Chronicle, several officers at the state, federal and county level in Texas were photographed in their uniforms with comments ranging from playful to offensive and accompanied by the hashtag #feelingcute. Those images were eventually posted to Facebook.
#FeelingCuteChallenge among correctional officers from several states in #USA have in mind that several inmates are abused in the prison system all over USA every day and then tell me if you think this is cute or funny!! @Martina
@CarolinaE1962
@solitarywatch
@UNHumanRights
pic.twitter.com/shmMrJIhnc— Sandie Natasja (@SandieNatasja) April 15, 2019
"Feeling cute, might just gas some inmates today, IDK," one photo was captioned with a selfie of a woman donning what looks like Texas Department of Criminal Justice garb.
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Frighteningly, actual evidence of the officer's malpractice can be found over on the America's Police Problem website.
Other posts from officers included captions such as "feeling cute, might shoot your baby daddy today" and "feeling cute…might take your homeboy to the hole [solitary confinement] later."
The posts angered the families of inmates who emailed officials with screenshots of the compromising photos. In a statement to The Washington Post, on Wednesday, a spokesman for the prison confirmed an investigation against the offenders had opened.
"The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is aware of the so-called feel cute challenge currently on social media," prison rep Jeremy Desel said April 16. "A handful of correctional officers employed by this agency are under investigation for on and off-duty conduct violations as a result of the alleged posting of inappropriate photographs on social media."
"We've been monitoring the posts since they began," ODOC spokesman Matthew Elliott said. "We're continuing our investigation and may take additional action."
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