The now-former Sheridan High School assistant principal accused of in May of second-degree sexual assault, for sleeping with an 18-year-old student, was found guilty of the act by a jury Tuesday.
Jacob Meyer had a two-day jury trial in Sheridan County District Court starting Monday. On Tuesday, the jury convicted him of second-degree sexual abuse, which is punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Meyer’s sentencing will be set for a later date.
The charge is from a subcategory of Wyoming’s sexual assault statutes that specifically outlaws sexual relationships between staffers of secondary or elementary schools and their students — if the staffer is more than four years older than the student.
The verdict came after weeks of contemplation over which evidence would be allowed at trial.
Sheridan County Attorney Dianna Bennett filed a request to bring evidence of text messages and emails between Meyer and the victim. District Court Judge Benjamin Kirven allowed them, ruling that those were appropriate pieces of evidence, not an attempt merely to make Meyer look bad.
18 Years Old
The student in question was an 18-year-old at Sheridan High School as of May 4, and was about 15 years younger than Meyer, says an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
The investigation started that day, when Sheridan High School Scott Cleland relayed to the Sheridan Police Department a report that a student had a sexual relationship with Meyer, says the affidavit.
Cleland provided Sheridan Police Department Officer Meagan Phillips with text message conversations between the student and Meyer that appeared to be from April 19, the document says.
The quotes from those texts as written in the affidavit appear sexual in nature.
The young woman gave a police interview May 5, and consent to search her phone, says the affidavit.
She said they’d been exchanging messages since about November of 2023, and they talked often about having sex.
On about April 19 Meyer asked her to come to his home; she acknowledged she was drunk, the document says.
The woman said her friend agreed to drive her there, and she described having sex with him.
Later, she put her clothes back on and her friend picked her up; the woman told her friend she and Meyer had had sex, the affidavit says.
When Phillips interviewed the woman’s friend at the police department, the friends said she was aware of the relationship.
Meyer was the assistant principal at the school at the time of the sex act, the document adds.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
