NC moms want action after edited image of daughters used in lewd Instagram post

T. Keung Hui, The News & Observer on Apr 15, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Two Wake County parents say stronger action needs to be taken after their daughters were included in a lewd altered image featuring members of Athens Drive High School’s boy’s lacrosse team.

The now-deleted Instagram post that went up before the school’s Friday lacrosse game against Broughton contained a photo of several uniformed Athens Drive players with images of four female Broughton High School students edited into it to create a sexually suggestive image.

The Wake County school system says the student who posted the image has been disciplined. But mothers of two of the Broughton students in the edited photo say all the Athens Drive students in the post should be disciplined.

“They’re just as guilty by association,” a mother of one of the Broughton female students said in an interview with The News & Observer. “They knew what they were doing. I’m not dumb enough to believe they didn’t.”

The N&O isn’t identifying the parents to protect the identities of the female students who were in the photo.

Edited photo called degrading and disgusting

The photo was one of several posts from the now-deleted Red Cup Jags account on Instagram. The account said it’s not affiliated with the school but gets its name from Athens Drive’s sports teams being called the Jaguars.

Parents at other schools told The N&O that Red Cup Jags regularly featured posts demeaning opponents of Athens Drive’s lacrosse team. For instance, another post showed a creature about to bite the neck of a mother of an Enloe High School lacrosse player.

A Broughton mom said Red Cup Jags took social media photos of the female students showing them at a dance and in Halloween costumes. The edited image placed the four girls at the groin level of the players.

“I was disgusted,” said the Broughton mother. “The one kid’s licking his lips. They’re grabbing at their crotch.”

The edited photo was degrading and had a clear sexual connotation, the mom added.

“Obviously we know what they’re trying to look like they’re doing,” said a mom of one of the other Broughton students in the photo. “I mean, we’re not stupid. What young girl wants to ever — even if it was her boyfriend — wants to be in a position like that in a picture, and it put all over social media.”

Both Broughton mothers said the image was shared by students at different schools, mortifying their daughters. The parents say Broughton’s school counselors reached out to their daughters to ask if they needed any support.

“My poor daughter, she didn’t know that was going to come out on a Friday and that everybody in Wake County is going to see it, because students pass things like that around,” said one of the Broughton mothers.

Should all the players in the photo be disciplined?

Athens Drive has said that “appropriate consequences will be assigned.” Only one student was involved and the issue was addressed, according to Lisa Luten, a Wake County school system spokesperson.

But the two Broughton mothers say all the athletes in the photo should face disciplinary action.

“They wore their lacrosse uniform, so they should not be part of that team,” one of the Broughton mothers said. “There should be a precedent that if you do this, you will not be part of my team.”

At a minimum, the parent said all the lacrosse players in the photo should be suspended for a week and barred from playing against Broughton later this season.

The other Broughton mom said a lesson needs to be taught now to all the athletes in the photo. But she had particularly harsh words for the student who was disciplined for posting the altered image.

“Whoever did it, how dare they,” said the Broughton parent. “I think they should be expelled from school and sent somewhere, to some sort of school for troubled kids, because that’s just devious and horrible. How dare they do that without consent.”