Judge kicks out plea deal for former teacher, 31
Jones accused of recording boys in local restrooms
A plea deal including probation was rejected Monday by a judge in Bowie County for a former teacher accused of secretly filming boys in restrooms.
Shane Samuel Jones, 31, pleaded guilty to invasive visual recording earlier this month with the help of Texarkana lawyer Danny Cook at a hearing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. At the plea hearing Feb. 12, the prosecution and defense announced a plea bargain had been reached including five years probation. Tidwell ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled the case for a hearing Monday.
Tidwell said Monday that he reviewed the presentence investigation report and will not approve the plea arrangement.
“I’m not going to give you probation. The people of Bowie County may after a trial, but I’m not,” Tidwell said.
Tidwell allowed Jones to withdraw his earlier plea of guilty and added some strict conditions to Jones’ bond.
“He will be outfitted with a GPS ankle monitor before he leaves the building,” Tidwell said.
Tidwell also ordered Jones to house arrest. He also entered an order prohibiting him from using a computer and issued an order forbidding Jones from having contact with anyone under 18.
The case will now be presented to a Bowie County grand jury for formal indictment. If the grand jury indicts Jones, the case could proceed to trial. Invasive video recording is punishable by six months to two years in a state jail.
Jones came to the attention of law enforcement Nov. 25. An 11-year-old boy told his father a man had slipped his phone under the stall divider in a restroom at the J.C. Penney store in Central Mall in Texarkana, Texas, and police were called, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
With Jones’ consent, officers looked in the phone and were unable to find any incriminating images. Jones allegedly told the officers he “just wanted to throw his phone away” and gave officers permission to keep the phone for further investigation.
Jones allegedly confessed to filming and deleting a video of the boy at J.C. Penney during an interview Nov. 27 with Texarkana, Texas, police.
“He stated that he began videoing male students at his place of employment, Trinity Christian School, while they were using the toilets in the bathroom stalls approximately two years ago,” the affidavit states.
Jones allegedly admitted to having approximately 10 videos on an old cellphone. He also admitted to filming two male bathroom users at J.C. Penney on two occasions and five male bathroom users at Trinity Christian School on five occasions. Jones has been arrested for video voyeurism by Texarkana, Ark., police and is free on a $100,000 bond in Miller County.
Jones was fired from his job as a teacher at Trinity Christian because of the allegations. Jones began teaching at the school in 2015 after several years of employment as a teacher at College Hill Middle School, according to earlier reports.