SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager pulled a razor blade and slashed his throat in an Orange County courtroom Wednesday moments after the verdict.
Jeffrey Scott Jones, 56, of Huntington Beach, was rushed to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
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Jones, who taught Advanced Placement English classes at the Libra Academy in Huntington Park, was accused of molesting and having sex with a teenage relative of his live-in girlfriend in 2012 and 2013. Prosecutors said DNA evidence pointed to Jones.
The defence argued that the DNA evidence wasn’t conclusive and even called the girl’s mother to refute her testimony, saying her daughter lied to cover up her marijuana use.
“What mother turns their back on a child?” Michele Deleske, a neighbour of Jones’, asked KCBS. “We were all in shock when she stayed with him.”
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A Santa Ana jury deliberated about two hours before convicting Jones of continuous sexual abuse and aggravated sexual assault of a child, which carry a potential sentence of 66 years to life in prison.
“Right after the judge asked if we wanted jurors polled, both attorneys said no, and then he took a razor out of his left pocket and slashed his throat,” prosecutor Heather Brown told City News Service. “His head hit the table, and I thought he fainted. But then I saw the blood and the razor on the table.”
“I didn’t see it even though I was sitting next to him” and only became concerned when Jones hit the table, defence attorney Ed Welbourn said.
“It’s very unfortunate, the whole thing,” he said. “We respect the jury’s decision, but we thought there was reasonable doubt as to what occurred … It’s just terrible. The good news is it looks like he will recover.”
“It had crossed my mind that he might try to kill himself rather than face life in prison,” senior deputy district attorney Heather Brown told KCBS. “So, I wasn’t completely shocked when that happened.”
The county sheriff’s department will investigate how Jones, who had been free on bail, managed to get the razor blade through court security, Lt. Mark Stichter said.
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Throughout the trial, Brown described Jones to the court as a dangerous predator, saying he groomed his former students for sex.
“He had a history of marrying an underage student, finding a new underage student as soon as he got divorced from the next one,” she said.
According to Brown, Jones had previously married three of his former students, who were each under the age of 18.
Jones’ actions left neighbours worried for the safety of their own children.
“I have a young teenage daughter in my house. I would worry about her every time we left because I wasn’t sure what he was capable of doing,” said Deleske.
Deleske’s husband, Ken, told KCBS that he taught his daughter how to use his shotgun.
“I told her if he ever comes into the house, shoot him.”
— With files from Global News
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