Thomas Jefferson High School teacher arrested for providing Xanax student www.privateofficer.com
Adam Jones, a science teacher who turned 40 in March, admitted to police he had texted sexual messages to the female student, who is 18, according to the arrest affidavit.
Both told investigators that their physical relationship advanced no further than hugging.
Jones faces a charge of delivering a controlled substance, an aggravated misdemeanor, authorities said.
Jones wears black-rimmed glasses, has curly dark hair, a slight beard and a large wedding band.
Reached at his apartment Friday, he said he only “gave her one” pill, a statement disputed in court records.
Xanax is a prescription drug used to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks. It can be addictive. Jones told investigators he had been prescribed the drug.
School officials and police began investigating Jones on Monday morning after reports of impropriety surfaced, said Council Bluffs Superintendent Martha Bruckner.
Jones remained on administrative leave Friday from his teaching job.
“We investigated … and by Monday afternoon we had him on administrative leave, pending information from police authorities what their findings were,” Bruckner said.
Police interviewed Jones at school that day. According to the affidavit, Jones told them the girl was a student of his during the second trimester, ending in February.
After that, and after her 18th birthday, they became friends, texting each other about having a relationship after she graduated.
The report states that Jones sent a text saying he had thought about having sex with her. He also texted, “I want you,” and told investigators he “didn’t think it was a big deal.”
The pair provided slightly different accounts to investigators as to how the girl acquired the Xanax. Both agree that she saw the pills, asked if she could have some and Jones agreed.
“I told him I was having a hard time and I needed something to make me happy, so he gave me some, gave me a couple,” the student told investigators.
Her mother, 36, said she was glad Jones had been arrested, saying he had taken advantage of a vulnerable teenager.
“It’s disgusting, you know what I’m saying? It’s frustrating,” she said in a tearful interview outside the family’s home in north Council Bluffs. “I don’t understand it. I stayed in my room for two days (except for work) because. . .as a mother, you can’t imagine something like that.”
Jones has been a Thomas Jefferson teacher since the 2008-09 school year, according to information from Bruckner. She believed him to be teaching environmental science classes. Jones posted $2,000 bail and was released immediately, authorities said.
Jones referred further questions to his lawyer Friday afternoon when reached by The World-Herald.
Said Bruckner: “If it’s true it would certainly cross the line…as to what we think relationships between students and teachers should be.”
Source: nonparielonline.com
