How Could You? Hall of Shame-Jessica A. Jones UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Springfield, Missouri, foster parent and teacher, Jessica A. Jones,32, “repeatedly sexually abused a juvenile who had been in her foster care since 2013.”
She “is currently employed as an art teacher at Watkins Elementary School in Springfield and also taught at Springfield Option Site, a school on Great Circle’s campus (formerly Boys and Girls Town). Jones was charged June 27 with statutory sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to court documents, the victim originally met Jones when she was a student of hers, although it is not specified at which school this occurred.
The victim later requested to be placed into the foster care of Jones, who completed the necessary steps to become a foster parent for the victim, court documents say. The victim moved into Jones’ home in May 2013. Another child was later taken into Jones’ home as well.
Police say the disclosure of an inappropriate relationship between Jones and the victim was first made in 2014. The victim was the subject of a forensic child interview at the Child Advocacy Center on July 1, 2014, but did not disclose any information regarding a relationship.
However, during a July 10, 2014 interview, the second child under Jones’ care told interviewers that Jones and the victim slept in the same bed together and had visited an adult entertainment store to purchase pornography.
The second child also told interviewers she had located pictures on a phone of Jones and the victim kissing.
The phone of the victim was collected by a detective investigating the case on Aug. 1, 2014, but the investigation was suspended based on “conflicting information,” according to court documents. Police later obtained a warrant on June 10, 2015, to review the materials from the seized cellphone and said there were pictures of Jones and the victim kissing, which corroborated the victim’s interview.
On May 26, 2015, a new police report was made by a Children’s Division investigator after the victim disclosed she was involved in a sexual relationship with Jones, documents say.
Those documents also say:
■In a June 9, 2015 interview, the victim told interviewers that Jones had sexually abused her since she was 14. She also said she had lied in the last interview because she liked living with Jones and “felt she had nowhere else to go, so she did not want Jessica to get in trouble.”
■The victim told interviewers that after the previous year’s report, Jones had started acting “more like a parent,” but had tried to continue the relationship. However, the victim said she began to spend more time with friends, and this upset Jones.
■The victim said she believed she was taken to the behavioral unit of a local hospital based on lies Jones told — specifically that she was aggressive and suicidal.
■The victim said the first incident of sexual abuse occurred in July 2013, after she and Jones had been drinking together. Jones performed oral sex on the victim, and the next morning Jones asked her if they were “together.”
■The victim said the two had performed oral sex on each other “so many times she could not remember.” She said the last time was in May 2015.
■The victim said Jones had told her that if someone found out what happened between them, “I’d probably go to prison because of statutory rape.”
■The victim also said she smoked marijuana with Jones and in one instance was given $80 by Jones to purchase marijuana.
Jones’ bond was set at $25,000, which was posted on June 30. At an arraignment Thursday morning, a preliminary hearing was set for 10:30 a.m. on July 30.
Teresa Bledsoe, public information officer with Springfield Public Schools, said the district is aware of the charges and had no other comment. She also said that as it is summer, Jones is not currently in contact with children.
Jones’ attorney, Roger Jones, declined to comment.”
Police: Springfield teacher sexually abused child in her foster care[Springfield News-Leader 7/2/15 by Trevor Mitchell]
“During a routine interview at a Missouri Child Advocacy Center in June of 2014, the second foster child living with Jones said that the foster mom and daughter regularly slept in the same bed.
She also told the interviewers that Jones took the 14-year-old girl to an adult sex shop, where the two purchased pornographic material.
Police opened an investigation but called it off when the alleged victim flatly denied that anything inappropriate of a sexual nature had transpired between her foster mom and herself.
But she changed her story, she told investigators, after Jones forced her to go to the mental health unit at a hospital, where Jones told doctors that the girl was overly aggressive and suicidal.
The girl denied that she exhibited either of those behaviors and believed instead that Jones was angry and jealous because she had started spending more time with friends her own age than with her foster mom.
The victim also told police that she and Jones would drink alcohol and smoke marijuana together, and that Jones even gave her $80 to buy pot for them. They would even drink when visiting Jones’s parents, consuming the alcohol out of unmarked bottles to keep their secret.
It was after one drinking session in July 2013 that Jones first performed a sexual act — an act of oral sex — on her, the girl told police. After that, according to court records, the adult and the teen performed oral sex on each other “so many times she could not remember,” between the summer if 2013 and May of 2015.
Jones was released on $25,000 bond. Her arraignment came one day before a teacher in Florida, Jennifer Fichter, who was convicted of having sex with three male students even becoming pregnant by one of them, was sentenced to 22 years behind bars.
The Springfield School District, which employs Jessica Jones as an art teacher, said through a spokesperson that it had not decided what action to take against Jones yet [Really??? 
]because it is summer and Jones will not have any contact with students again until the school year begins.”
Jessica Jones: Foster Mom Had Sex With Daughter, 14, ‘So Many Times She Couldn’t Remember,’ Cops Say
[Inquistor.com 7/5/15]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: A search of Missouri’s court records shows that a pre-trial conference has been scheduled for 1/20/16.
Update 2: A search of Missouri’s court records shows that a pre-trial conference has been scheduled for 6/21/16.
Update 3:” A former Springfield teacher convicted of statutory sodomy said in court Friday that she made mistakes, but it was the then-14-year-old former student in her foster care who initiated physical contact.
Jessica Jones, 33, was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing the teen between 2013 and 2015, though Jones could be out of prison in as few as 120 days if she successfully completes a stint in a sex offender’s unit.
The assistant prosecuting attorney described Jones’ behavior as predatory and called it “disgusting” that Jones and her lawyer argued Jones was “seduced” by the victim.
“This was not an isolated incident,” said Dawn Diel, the prosecuting attorney.
Jones, in a statement to the court, said she had tried to provide a welcome atmosphere for the troubled girl but was drawn into a relationship with a teen much more mature than her age indicated.
“She didn’t speak or act like a typical teenager,” Jones said.
As Jones and the girl became closer, Jones said she and her partner of six years broke up.
When Jones and the girl visited Jones’ parents, Jones said there was only one bed available, so they shared it.
“I crossed the line that night,” Jones said. “A decision I will forever regret.”
Jones said the girl told her she loved her, then kissed Jones and placed Jones’ hands on her.
Her attorney, Jason Coatney, said Jones’ behavior was anything but predatory, saying Jones did not want to foster the girl but was worn down by repeated requests. Coatney said that the girl is currently in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections for her role in a drive-by shooting.
Coatney argued that Jones’ crime was one of “opportunity” and that she would not re-offend if released on probation.
Jones’ mother also testified at the sentencing, telling the judge she had been praying “long and hard about this day.”
“I truly believe my daughter was targeted by this troubled teen because of her lifestyle choice,” Jones’ mother said. “My daughter was in over her head … My daughter’s life became a nightmare because of this troubled teen.”
Jones, who was hired by Springfield Public Schools in August 2006, taught art at Watkins Elementary for nearly all of her nine years with the district.
According to a state database that shows assignments, she also worked at Bissett and McGregor elementary schools, Wilson’s Creek Intermediate, the former Study Middle School and the Springfield Option Site, a school on the Great Circle campus (formerly known as Boys and Girls Town).
Jones was working for the district when she met the girl, a student of hers, according to court documents. It was not clear which school the girl attended at the time.
According to court documents, the teen girl requested to be placed in the foster care of Jones, who completed the necessary steps to become her foster parent. The girl moved into Jones’ home in May 2013.
The documents show police were tipped off about the possibility of an inappropriate relationship between Jones and the girl in 2014.
In July 2014, the girl was interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center but didn’t disclose any information. Days later, a second child in Jones’ care told interviewers that Jones and the other girl slept in the same bed and visited an adult entertainment store to purchase pornography.
The second child also told interviewers she had found photos on a phone of Jones and the victim kissing. The phone was collected by a police detective, but the investigation was suspended — before the phone was checked — because of “conflicting information,” according to court documents.
A year ago, a new police report was made by a Children’s Division investigator after the victim disclosed she was involved in a sexual relationship with Jones.
A short while later, police obtained a warrant to review the seized phone and discovered photos of Jones kissing the girl, which corroborated the account of the second child, the documents showed.
According to court documents, the victim told investigators during a June 9, 2015, interview that she lied in the previous interview because she “felt she had nowhere else to go and she did not want Jessica to get in trouble.”
Documents show the teen also alleged the following:
• Jones had sexually abused her since she was 14.
• The first incident of sexual abuse occurred in July 2013, after she and Jones had been drinking together. Jones performed oral sex on the victim, and the next morning Jones asked her if they were “together.”
• The victim said the two had performed oral sex on each other “so many times she could not remember.” She said the last time was in May 2015.
• The victim said Jones had told her that if someone found out what happened between them, “I’d probably go to prison because of statutory rape.”
• The victim also said she smoked marijuana with Jones and in one instance was given $80 by Jones to purchase marijuana.”
Ex-Springfield teacher sentenced for sexually abusing teen in her foster care
[News-Leader 3/10/17 by
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