Tennessee school board member charged after calling teenage girl ‘hot’

Keith Ervin, 59, was charged with assault after he told a student ‘God – you’re hot’ at a public meeting in April An east Tennessee school board member who told a teenage girl, “God – you’re hot,” on video at a public meeting in April has been charged with assault. State prosecutors on 18 May charged 59-year-old Keith Ervin under a Tennessee statute that outlaws “intentionally or knowingly [causing] physical contact with another [that] a reasonable person would regard … as extremely offensive or provocative”. Tennessee considers that offense a class B misdemeanor, which upon conviction can carry up to six months in jail and a maximum $500 fine. Ervin’s charge came after his participation in a 2 April meeting of the Washington county school board to which he was first elected in 2006. At that gathering, in plain view of a camera capturing video for the public board’s YouTube channel, Ervin gazed at a female student seated next to him, placed his left hand on her right shoulder, and said, “God – you’re hot. Did you know that? Damn.” She laughed uncomfortably as he leaned in and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, continuing, “Where do you go

May 22, 2026 → May 22, 2026