School portraits link may have pointed El Paso parents to inappropriate website

A mistake by Hot Shots Photography appears to have led parents to an inappropriate website.

The company was hired by the El Paso Independent School District to take school photos of students.

The local company, also known as Hot Shots by Lomeli Photo, provided a form for parents which directed them to a website to preview the photos of their children.

Instead, the incorrect link took parents to a pornographic website.

The owner of Hot Shots Photography declined to give a comment to ABC-7 until they hear back from the school district but did say he wants to apologize for anyone who used the incorrect link.

He added that his company is now seeking a completely different domain name to avoid this from happening again.

A website previously associated with Hot Shots Photography and Hot Shots by Lomeli Photo is shown on the El Paso Better Business Bureau website and Google searches. That website is now a pornographic website owned by a Chinese company.

There is no evidence Hot Shots Photography knowingly sent parents to the porn site.

An EPISD spokesman told ABC-7 that the district has a contract with Hot Shots Photography to take pictures of students at15 of its schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools.

Most of the schools have 300 to 400 students.

EPISD sent ABC-7 the following statement:

“EPISD was alerted earlier this month that printed material distributed by a third-party vendor contained the incorrect web address for the company. The address printed in the handout leads to a site with inappropriate material. EPISD immediately halted the distribution of the materials, as well as use of the vendor. The District is currently in the process of reviewing both the incident and the vendor.”

ABC-7 is checking with other local school districts to see if Hot Shots Photography is a vendor they use and if they experienced the same website issue.