Elena Maraga found herself in the midst of very public drama after the father of one of her young students found her OnlyFans account and leaked the photos, resulting in Maraga’s termination as a teacher.
Maraga was a nursery school teacher at a small Catholic school in northern Italy near Treviso, where she lives with her parents. As a teacher, she typically earned around €1,300 a month, which isn’t enough for most people to live on alone. That’s why the 29-year-old decided to create an OnlyFans account to supplement her income.
Maraga told Italian journalists that she has a degree in Educational Sciences and had worked at the Catholic nursery school for five years before everything happened.
“I love being a nursery school teacher, it was my vocation since I was a child.”
But that all went away after one of the dads leaked her X-rated photos to a football team’s group chat. It seems the father was a paid subscriber of Maragra’s, but after sharing the photos his wife found out and things escalated.
The parents approached the school with the information, and Maraga found herself suspended without pay after refusing to delete the account. While she fought to keep her job, she stood her ground that she should be able to keep her account, too. But church leaders said her account on the subscription-based platform that features adult content had exposed the school to “reputational risks”.
Yet Maraga argues that she shouldn’t be the one embarrassed.
“There are parents who accused me, but they are the same ones who paid to see me. It’s embarrassing. They made me look like a harlot, but who is the immoral one? I want to give voice to all those women who, like me, have felt condemned or punished for doing things that men also do without facing any consequences.”
The former teacher continued, “Me, who can do what I want with my body in my spare time, or them, who pay to watch and then condemn? I’m tired of the injustices I’ve suffered.”
That’s why Maraga has turned to the legal system, suing the father who leaked the photos, as well as against the school for financial compensation and three social media users for allegedly defamatory comments posted after everything came to light.
It’s not that Maraga wants the job back, though she admits: “Despite everything, I miss the children – but not the problems related to that job that I loved.”
But it isn’t enough. “But today I would not go back.”
Maraga is one of many teachers who have faced this kind of backlash after their OnlyFans account surfaced. It’s becoming such a problem in Italy alone that the Italian education ministry plans to draw up a new code of ethics to prevent teachers appearing on adult sites.
For now, Maraga will continue to speak out against the way she was treated.
“They attacked me, saying I was seeking media attention. Taking compromising photos has never compromised my professionalism at work. The school has never wanted to talk to me, they have always acted with letters and have never wanted dialogue. I am surprised that a Catholic school that preaches morality treats an employee in this way.”