JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax is poring over hundreds of pages and three hours of recordings recently released by the State Attorney’s Office in the case against a former Douglas Anderson School of the Arts teacher. He’s accused of kissing and groping a student during the last school year.
The girl investigators say is Jeffrey Clayton’s victim told detectives many students at the school had his phone number. But according to her statements to police, their relationship went beyond academics.
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The girl told investigators that the relationship became physical over Christmas break when DA was empty and she took private voice lessons with former teacher Clayton at his home. She said he would kiss her cheek or forehead when she did a good job.
All the while, her parents were sitting in the next room. The State Attorney’s Office just released an interview with her; we distorted her voice to protect her privacy.
Read: ‘Is this true?’ Jail calls of former Douglas Anderson teacher accused of lewd conduct with student
“He said to me something about he always knew where my father was in the formal living room so he couldn’t see if, like, he had kissed me,” she said.
Their text messages turned intimate during spring break. The physical nature escalated on March 17 in Clayton’s school office during another private voice lesson.
At some point, Clayton held her hands, kissed them, and touched her legs.
Read: Audio released of police interrogation of former DA teacher Jeffrey Clayton
“He reached down and was like massaging my legs basically,” she said.
The victim said she highly respected Clayton and didn’t want to overthink his behavior.
She said Clayton told her he wanted to kiss her and she said OK. She said she pulled away slightly when he did, but the kissing progressed.
Read: State questions Duval County Public Schools over reporting of arrested Douglas Anderson teacher
Investigator: “And how many times did he like tongue kiss you do you think?”
Victim: “Um, I don’t know. He did it multiple times throughout the day.”
She described the kissing as rough and agreed with the officer that it was more forceful than she thought it would be. She remembered him saying many things while they kissed.
Read: ‘There’s a breach of trust:’ Parents want transparent investigation into misconduct at Duval schools
“He said, ‘I don’t want to ruin you.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I was a virgin when I was married.’ I said, ‘OK, I don’t really understand.’ He said, ‘I want to make love to you.’”
Clayton kissed her again the next day at a school fundraiser.
“He said, ‘I’m not gonna let you go back down until you give me a kiss.’ And so I kissed him,” she said. “When I kissed him, he put his tongue in my mouth and then he kissed my neck. And that’s when he kissed my cleavage.”
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The victim recalled Clayton asking her to delete their text messages but she never did. She said Clayton would call her intoxicating.
Victim: “‘Oh the dress you wore added to the intoxication of whatever’ and stuff like that.”
Investigator: “So that’s his chosen word when he tries to talk about how much influence you have on him?”
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Victim: “Mhmmm.”
Investigators asked the victim to help stage a phone call to Clayton in order to gather more information. Much of the call is redacted.
It lasted 30 minutes according to the police report. In his police interview, Clayton said the victim wasn’t being truthful.
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