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W.Va. HS senior wants principal out after assembly on abstinence

CHARLESTON, W.Va., April 15 (UPI) -- A Charleston, W.Va., high school senior called on the school's principal to resign and apologize following a school assembly on abstinence-only sex education.

Katelyn Campbell, 17, also requested an injunction to keep George Washington High School officials from retaliating against her because she expressed disapproval of the presentation. She said Principal George Aulenbacher threatened to call the college where she's been accepted and report her activities, the Charleston Daily Mail reported Monday.

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Pam Stenzel, who speaks nationally on the dangers of sex before marriage, caused a stir at the Charleston school after delivering a message focused on abstinence.

The Daily Mail said Campbell contacted local media after Stenzel's visit to the school, which was underwritten by the religious group, "Believe in West Virginia."

Campbell said the assembly was an exercise in "slut-shaming," adding that she and others were offended by Stenzel's tone and her focus on abstinence.

Program attendance was mandatory for students, The Charleston Gazette reported. Stenzel also spoke at Riverside High School in nearby Belle, W.Va.

After she complained, Campbell says Aulenbacher threatened to call Wellesley College -- where Campbell has been accepted for attendance next year -- to alert them that Campbell was a "backstabber" and "bad character."

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"We simply want to make sure that my client's and the other students expressing their opinions are protected for exercising their First Amendment rights," Mike Callaghan, a Charleston lawyer representing Campbell, said in a release. "No student should be concerned for their future for publicly expressing their opinion."

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