School Aide's Porn Past Angers Parents

Nov. 23, 2008— -- An aide at a New Jersey elementary school and a local YMCA is described by one parent as "an excellent role model," but others say someone who played the roles the woman has shouldn't be working with young children.

It turns out that Louisa Tuck, a cafeteria and playground aide at D'Ippolito Elementary School in Vineland, N.J., used to be an adult film star who went by the name of Crystal Gunns.

She was hired as a part-time aide in June, but school officials learned about her past only recently.

When district officials found out, according to ABC News Philadelphia affiliate WPVI-TV, they talked to their lawyers about what they could do but they were told they didn't have any cause to fire her.

A district lawyer reportedly said that there was nothing illegal about Tuck's Web site, photo spreads and movies.

"It's a constitutional privilege of free expression. She's employed by the school district, but that doesn't take away her constitutional rights," Frank DiDomenico, an associate solicitor for the school board, told The Daily Journal, the Vineland newspaper.

He told the newspaper that during the interview process, the district wouldn't have had any way to learn about Tuck's work in the adult entertainment industry.

"There's no way the board could delve into someone's private life," he told the newspaper.

Tuck reportedly said she hasn't worked in the adult entertainment indusrtry in five years and what she did in the past shouldn't be held against her. She even compared herself to president-elect Barack Obama, who in his memoir "The Audacity of Hope" talked about how he experimented with drugs in his youth.

"If this is about morality, our president-elect has admitted to doing crack, and he's our president. Does that make him a bad person?" Tuck told The Daily Journal. "Bill Clinton smoked pot. Does that make him a bad person?"

But some parents reportedly don't agree.

"I understand it's her personal life, but I don't feel someone with that background should be working with young children at all," preschool teacher Maria Martin, who has children at the school, told WPVI-TV.

Other parents were more understanding, though.

"It's in her past. We all do things in our past. And as long as she's not interfering with any kids, I don't see any problem with it," Raul Cordova, who has two children at the school, told WPVI-TV.

A woman who knows Tuck through her work at the YMCA, where she reportedly supervises several youth programs, told The Daily Journal she is "an excellent role model with good values."

Shawn Rivers told The Daily Journal she "would trust her with my children at any time.

"She has nothing but love and compassion with all kids," Rivers told the newspaper. "There's never been a problem with her reputation or conduct, and I just want everyone to know that."