A Bowie County, Texas, grand jury indicted a former Texarkana, Ark., teacher Thursday for invasive video recording involving a department store bathroom and an 11-year-old boy.
Shane Samuel Jones, 31, is now formally charged with felonies in two states for allegedly filming boys as they used restroom facilities. In Bowie County, Jones is charged with invasive video recording, a felony punishable by six months to two years in a state jail.
Jones was allegedly caught Nov. 25 filming a boy as he used a bathroom at J.C. Penney in Central Mall in Texarkana, Texas. Jones allegedly admitted to filming that boy and another at the department store and allegedly admitted to filming boys in bathrooms at Trinity Christian School in Texarkana, Ark. Jones lost his teaching job at Trinity when the allegations of secretly videoing boys surfaced.
At a hearing Tuesday before Miller County Circuit Judge Brent Haltom, Jones entered pleas of not guilty to voyeurism and video voyeurism with the help of Texarkana lawyer Danny Cook. Jones is scheduled to appear next month before Haltom for a pretrial hearing on the charges, each of which is punishable by one to six years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
Jones allegedly admitted to having videos of boys on an old cell phone. A search of Jones home was conducted in November and resulted in the seizure of phones, computers and digital storage devices.
Jones allegedly denied touching any of the students he taught at Trinity Christian School inappropriately, though he did tell investigators that he has washed the feet of several boys in a "mentoring group" at the school as a "spiritual lesson."
At a hearing last month in Bowie County before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell, Jones tried to plead guilty to his invasive recording case without presentment to a grand jury. Tidwell refused to accept a plea bargain that included probation, and the grand jury indicted Jones on Thursday. At the February hearing, Tidwell amended Jones' bond conditions to include a GPS leg monitor and no contact with minors.
Jones' case in Bowie County is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter and First Assistant District Attorney Mike Shepherd. Jones' case in Miller County is being managed by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristian Robertson. Cook is representing Jones in both jurisdictions.
llarowe@texarkanagazette.com