A misdemeanor charge of battery has been filed in the St. Joseph Superior Court system against John Barron, a football coach at John Glenn School Corporation.
In a Probable Cause Affidavit filed in the court, allegations indicate that Barron slapped a female student on the rear end in an incident in November 2023 as she was helping to prepare for a football banquet during school hours.
According to court documents, the victim, a teacher’s aide, stated she was placing an award on the table when the action occurred and Barron did not say anything after that. There was a witness present.
As a teacher’s aide, the victim had access to Barron’s laptop, cell phone, and vehicle code, and they would text back and forth, according to court documents.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from November 20, 2023 where the victim begins walking out of the office and goes through a doorway which is a “blind spot-on camera”, according to court documents. The documents state that when the victim comes back into view she is rubbing/touching her rear end.
Barron denied the allegation as indicated in the Probable Cause Affidavit. He told police that he did not recall slapping the victim on the rear end but if he did, “it wasn’t meant to be sexual”. He allegedly stated to police that he understood why law enforcement was talking to him about the incident and that he understood that the situation did not look good.
John Glenn School Superintendent Christopher Winchell presented a statement: “We have been notified by law enforcement that a John Glenn employee has been charged with battery against one of our students. We want you to know that when those allegations were initially reported the district acted immediately to not only inform the appropriate authorities but also to remove the employee from campus and any student contact. A thorough investigation has been conducted by both law enforcement and school district authorities. The safety, security, and well-being of our students and staff is our most important responsibility. Any allegation that potentially impacts that is immediately investigated and actions following the Indiana Code and the John Glenn School Board Policy are vigorously executed.”
Court documents indicate Barron is to have no contact with the victim and two witnesses as the case goes through the court process.
Suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
