CHEYENNE — Nearly a month after an alleged physical altercation with a female student, a McCormick Junior High School teacher has been charged in Laramie County Circuit Court with unlawful contact.
The count against John D. Scott, 35, is a misdemeanor, alleging he touched another person in a rude, insolent, or angry manner, according to charging documents filed Thursday by the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office.
An affidavit of probable cause also filed with the court outlines in more detail the events leading up to and during the March 4 altercation with a student, which ended with Scott caught on video on his knees begging the girl and repeatedly saying, “I did something very wrong.”
Another teacher in front of the school that afternoon who witnessed the confrontation intervened at one point to separate Scott from the student and others in the area, but Scott returned to engage with her again, the affidavit says.
“As (the student) yelled at Scott, another teacher … intervened and had Scott go with him to the grassy area,” the girl told police, according to the affidavit written by Cheyenne Police Officer Micah Veniegas. “Scott came back over to her and asked for her name, which she refused to give him.”
That also seems to support a 90-second video another student took that shows the incident after the alleged physical contact, in which Scott tells the girl he needs her name so he can report himself to school officials.
“I’m bleeding because of you,” the student is heard saying on the video, which swings around to show the teacher.
“Can I please have your name,” the teacher asks the girl.
“No!” she says. “Look what you did!”
“I know. Can I please, can I please … no, so listen,” the man continues as he gets down on his knees on the sidewalk in front of the student.
“I’m on my knees right now. Come here, please,” he says, gesturing with his hands for her to get closer.
The affidavit says that Scott stood back up, and the school’s principal came out and took the girl away from the area in front of the school.
More Detail
The events leading up to the altercation involving Scott, an eighth-grade math teacher who has since been removed from the classroom, began after school on March 4, the affidavit says.
The girl told police that “she was outside after school on the bus side (east side) of the school standing by the science doors,” Veniegas wrote. “She was standing with a group of students when Scott walked over to them.
“Scott told the group of students … that they needed to move off the road.”
She said they did, but she heard Scott again tell them to get on the sidewalk and off the road.
That’s when the female student addressed the teacher, telling him they weren’t on the road, “but Scott did not know who told him that.”
When he identified the teen as the one who spoke to him, she said he “got his face close to her and started yelling, saying something to the effect of ‘why would you say that?’” the affidavit says.
The student said she didn’t feel comfortable in the situation and tried to walk away from Scott.
“She told Scott that her mother was there to pick her up, which she was not. She only wanted to get away from Scott,” the document adds. “She stated Scott began walking faster to catch up with her, which caused her to walk faster to get away from him.”
On School Video, Too
When the teacher caught up with the girl, she said he “grabbed her by her hair, shoulder, necklace, and backpack strap on her right side … (and) tried to spin her around,” the affidavit says.
The girl said she remembered he had a tight grip on her, but she was able to get away, but that “he caused scratch marks on her shoulder, neck area, and broke her necklace,” it adds.
“She started yelling, ‘Don’t f***ing touch me’ and ‘don’t touch me’ at Scott,” Veniegas wrote.
As she was yelling this, the other teacher intervened and got Scott away, but he returned to continue confronting the girl, this time getting on his knees in a pleading fashion in front of her, the affidavit says.
Video from two McCormick Junior High School surveillance cameras also shows the confrontation, confirming Scott was on his knees for 1 minute and 49 seconds in front of the girl, according to the affidavit.
“Scott gets on his knees as he talked with the students,” it says. “At this time, a few other staff members walked over to find out what was going on.
“Scott gets off his knees, and a few seconds later Principal (Jeff) Hatcliff is seen walking over to the incident.”
The Cheyenne Police Department affidavit was forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office on March 10 with the conclusion that there’s probable cause to support a charge of battery.
After reviewing the case, the DA’s office filed the unlawful contact charge Thursday, which is punishable by up to six months in jail, a $750 fine, or both.
The student’s parents declined to comment on the incident. Messages left to a number listed for Scott weren’t returned by the time this story was published.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
