The snap of a bare Riverina Anglican College student - taken during a school trip to the Far South Coast last week - might have been over in a flash, but the ramifications continue to linger.

The male student's mother, whose name has been withheld to protect the 18-year-old's identity, has questioned how the matter was handled.

She claims her son was interrogated over the matter and told he faced going on the Sex Offenders Register rather than offered support.

Fairfax Media has been told the incident took place on a Tathra beach during a school leadership camp on Thursday night.

The camp was for year 11 students starting year 12.

It is understood up to 12 students participated in the "after hours" naked run when the picture of the male student was snapped and sent to a staff member, whose child was also at the camp.

The mother claims the school has covered up the incident, with the naked picture of her son now being described as a "beach scene".

"I appreciate the photo was taken on a beach, but you and I both know that it was much more than a beach scene that was distributed," the mother wrote in an email to principal Ian Grant on Tuesday, which was seen by Fairfax Media.

Although not condoning her son's behaviour, she said the picture being taken and disseminated were criminal acts and asked why her son was spoken to by staff and not the person responsible for the image.

"The photo was taken without consent, " she said.

"My son is just beside himself (at the picture being distributed)."

Doctor Grant said advice to him indicated the matter wasn't "sexting" because it occurred in a public place, but the claim has been refuted by the mother who says it was "using a telecommunication device to menace or harass".

"It was a loss of judgment (on the student's behalf) and that's the way we've treated it," Dr Grant said.

"We've got no idea what the picture was like, it's gone."

Dr Grant said the student who took the picture stated "they were taking photos of the moon when the students were on the beach during the eclipse".

"When the student sent them to a friend he saw a blurred picture of the boy well up the beach," he said.

"When the incident came to our attention, the boy was counselled about the danger of putting himself in a position where a naked picture could go viral.

"As far as we are concerned the photographer does not have a case to answer."