Thursday, September 04, 2014

Former Joplin High School teacher to stand trial on sex charges

A former Joplin High School communication arts teacher waived her preliminary hearing this morning in Jasper County Circuit Court and will stand trial on charges of statutory rape, statutory sodomy, and furnishing pornographic material to a minor.

The next hearing for Jessica Low, 32, is scheduled for 9 a.m. September 22.

Low, 32, was arrested shortly after the school day ended May 29 at the 9-10 Center (the former Memorial Middle School), where xhd taught vof two years.

The probable cause statement is printed below:
I, Det. Chip Root, knowing that false statements on this form are punishable by law, state that the facts contained herein are true:

I have probable cause to believe that on May 25, 2014, at (address omitted), Jessica Lynn Low, a white female, committed one or more criminal offenses of statutory rape in the second degree, statutory sodomy in the second degree, furnishing pornographic material to a minor.

On May 28, 2014, it was reported by the Joplin School District that they had received an anonymous complaint that Jessica Low, a Joplin High School teacher, had sent nudeimages of herself to a Joplin 10th grade student, identified as 16-year-old "IF (date of birthomitted) via cellular telephone.

School district staff reported the incident to the Joplin Police Department. The affiant contacted IF's father regarding the complaint. The father admitted that he had witnessed the nude images of Jessica Low on his son's cell phone on May 25, 2014.

The father further stated that he had spoken to his son and his son's 16-year-old male friend about Low sending the nude pictures of herself. The 16-year-old friend is identified as "MS" (date of birth omitted) . MS volunteered that he had also observed the nude images of Low and had also had sexual intercourse with Low.

IF also admitted that he had witnessed the nude images of Low and also had sexual intercourse with Low. IF's father admitted that he had witnessed the nude images of JessicaLow on his son's cell phone while at their Joplin residence.

He advised he and his wife confronted Low by telephone and she subsequently admitted to sending the nude images to their son. The father further stated he recorded the images sent by Low using his cell phone, which was later examined with his permission. Several nudeimages of a white female were observed including photos of the subject's breasts and close-up photos of her vagina and some images depict the use of a sexual device.

On May 29, 2014, the affiant witnessed a child forensic interview at the Joplin Children's Center of IF. During the interview, IF declared that he had received 25 to 40 nude images ofJessica Low via cell phone text messages and admitted they had discussed meeting for sex. He stated the images depicted her breasts, as well as her vagina and said she was masturbating during the images. The child advised Low had sent him the images on Wednesday of last week, May 28, 2014.

On May 29, 2014, the affiant witnessed a child forensic interview of MS at the Joplin Children's Center. During the child's interview, MS disclosed on Monday, May 19, 2014, Low followed MS home from school and the two had vaginal intercourse on the living room floor of his residence. He said on Tuesday, May 20, 2014, Low again followed him home from school and she performed oral sex on him and they also had sexual intercourse a second time.

No comments:

Post a Comment