Angeli Invited Back To Class

The professor of a Harvard Extension School student, who has been jailed in a controversial case involving nude pictures of her four-year-old son, yesterday said he would welcome the woman back into his class this semester.

Jack E. Lueders-Booth, tutor in visual and environmental studies, said he supports Toni Marie Angeli, 31, who chose Tuesday to serve 30 days in jail rather than admit fault for a confrontation with police over the pictures taken last fall.

"I think this all followed from a misjudgment on the part of the photo lab," Lueders-Booth said. "She was a bright, enthusiastic student. Absolutely, I would welcome her back this semester."

The altercation ensued when Cambridge's Zona Photographic Laboratories called the police after developing the pictures, which were taken as part of an introductory photography class taught by Lueders-Booth.

Angeli's project, titled "Innocence in Nudity," included three photographs in which her son's penis is visible and another photo which depicts her son urinating next to a friend.

Angeli became enraged when confronted at the photo lab by the police and threw a lamp at an employee, according to a Cambridge police report filed after the November 2 fracas.

A six-member jury acquitted Angeli of an assault charge but convicted her on two misdemeanor charges. She was sentenced to 18 months probation, 50 hours of community service and a $229 fine.

Lueders-Booth said that Angeli created a composite portrait of her son using both nude and clothed pictures. He said he did not find the photographs objectionable.

"I judged these pictures strictly on their artistic merit," Lueders-Booth said. "There was absolutely no question of anything being wrong with the pictures."

Other students in previous years have taken nude pictures of their children, according to Lueders-Booth. Many of these likely were professionally developed, he said.

But Charles D. Killip, director of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, said that artists must be careful with how they choose to portray young children.

"I don't know without seeing the photos," Killip said.

"Pictures of children can fall on either side of the line, and without seeing these pictures I have no way of judging," he said.

Angeli is currently incarcerated in Framingham, Mass., pending an appeal by her attorney, John G. Swomley.

Swomley did not return phone calls to his office yesterday.

Angeli, a Cambridge resident, is presently enrolled in another class with Lueders-Booth for the spring semester. It is unclear whether she will return to class following her release.