A former Douglas Anderson teacher who was removed from the classroom and arrested in march is scheduled for a pretrial case management hearing on Wednesday morning.
Jeffrey Clayton has pleaded not guilty to one count of indecent, lewd, or lascivious touching a minor, two counts of offenses against students, and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Wednesday’s hearing is expected to involve discussions about what evidence the state plans to present in the case, as well as a formal mutual discovery request.
The hearing begins at 9 a.m.
Clayton was a voice teacher at Douglas Anderson for more than 20 years. The arrest warrant for him provides details about the investigation.
On March 17, a student’s father dropped her off for a one-on-one singing lesson with the 65-year-old teacher. The student sat on a couch in Clayton’s office while he sat in a chair next to her. He began to talk about her “intoxicating” feelings for the student before beginning to rub her thighs, according to her arrest warrant.
Clayton reportedly began kissing the student, first with her mouth closed, and then kissed her with her mouth open.
The victim told one of her friends what happened with Clayton, prompting a DCF employee and a Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy to visit the student’s home. The parents then reported the incident to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, according to the order.
Authorities said there were about 1,700 text messages between Clayton and the victim.
Last week, the Duval County School Board voted 4-3 to allow Superintendent Diana Greene to step down Tuesday afternoon at a special board meeting.
Greene was under increasing political pressure amid teacher layoffs at the school.
