KOKOMO — The Taylor Community School Corporation is explaining why a former teacher was allowed to resign amid allegations of misconduct involving students rather than terminate him.
Howard County Prosecutors filed criminal charges Monday against Charles Jansen of Kokomo for Vicarious Sexual Gratification with a child under 14 years of age, a Level 4 felony.
Charles Jansen started working for Taylor Community Schools in 1992.
He was the Language Arts Teacher and Yearbook Coordinator at Taylor High School and resigned on September 14, 2011.
The charge stems from a child, who was under the age of 14 at the time, after Jansen directed the child to urinate into a cup to satisfy his "sexual desires," court documents read.
The allegations came to light after former students brought forth accusations to law enforcement, records show.
WRTV Investigates asked Taylor Community School Corporation Superintendent Steve Dishon why Jansen was allowed to resign in 2011.
“Charles Jansen, an employee of Taylor Community School Corporation (TCSC) was immediately placed on administrative leave August 22, 2011, and the Indiana State Police were notified after the district was made aware of his questionable conduct with a minor,” said Dishon in an email to WRTV. “Jansen was never allowed to return to the campus”.
Dishon said the district followed the legal due process protocol for a licensed teacher.
“An internal investigation revealed conduct which would have resulted in immediate termination,” said Dishon in an email. “However, because Jansen tendered his resignation on September 14, 2011, during the course of the investigation, the district was left with no additional recourse leaving it in the hands of legal authorities.”
Dishon said the district has taken proactive steps to prevent similar incidents.
“The superintendent reported the teacher to Indiana Department of Education’s licensing division, administration notified a potential future employer of Jansen’s behaviors and the investigation surrounding him, and multiple safeguards have been enhanced or established for the protection of our students,” said Dishon in an email to WRTV. “Those include, but are not limited to: child abuse training for all staff, ‘See Something. Say Something’ signage with a direct number to the superintendent’s cell phone, and the use of apps and Google classroom to safeguard teacher-student communication.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, in 2011 Jansen was the Language Arts Teacher and Year Book Coordinator when he began a friendship with a then 16 year old student at Taylor High School.
Jansen groomed the student and asked the student to spit in his drinks and urinate in bottles for money for which he would pay $5 to $10 each, according to court records.
Prosecutors allege Jansen did similar things to other students including paying students for old clothing and shoes.
According to court documents, students reported the behavior to the school.
“(One child) reported Jansen’s behavior to the school administrators when Jansen began asking him to urinate in bottles,” read the probable cause affidavit. “After the report Jansen’s employment at Taylor was terminated.”
The superintendent encourages parents to be observant of grooming behavior which can occur online and off.
“Taylor Community Schools sincerely hopes that through all of this, the innocent victims who were abused by Jansen, or anyone else in a position of power, are provided with the help, healing and recovery time they need,” read the email from Dishon. “Our hearts go out to those who were affected.”
His teaching license expired in 2014, state records show.
Jansen went on to work for St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kokomo, records show.
According to a post on the City of Kokomo’s website praising Jansen in 2022, it said Jansen also worked as associate director of parish life and communications at St. Patrick Catholic Church.
Court records allege in April 2023, Jansen was working at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kokomo when an individual confronted Jansen about his behaviors and recorded the conversation. They talked about:
- Urine and semen in bottles for money
- Providing shoes to Jansen so he could “lick them clean”
- Spitting in Jansen’s drink
- Chewing up food and spitting it back in the wrapper so Jansen could eat it
- Urinating in a crock pot
“Jansen did not deny any of the accusations,” read the court documents. “He made statements saying he was sorry for how he made (redacted) feel and that he had changed.”
Jansen also said he had “probably 3 or 4” young men reach the level of putting semen in bottles for him, court documents allege.
Prosecutors allege Jansen directed children to perform acts in order to satisfy his paraphilic/masochistic sexual desires.
Paraphilias are persistent and recurrent sexual interests, urges, fantasies, or behaviors of marked intensity involving objects, activities, or even situations that are atypical in nature, according to the National Library of Medicine.
In June 2023, WRTV Investigates reported the Catholic Church in Kokomo was investigating “misconduct allegations” involving a former employee, however, the employee was not named.
The Catholic Church has not responded to WRTV’s requests for an update on that investigation.
Rev. Fr. Christopher Shocklee released a statement on the St. Patrick Catholic Church website in June 2023.
“The safety and well being of our children and young people are of the utmost importance to me and all of us at St. Joan of Arc and Patrick Parishes and School,” read the 2023 statement. “We are aware that misconduct allegations against a former employee were brought forward. This person is no longer employed by our parish, school or the diocese, and an investigation is ongoing.”
The statement did not identify the individual under investigation.
“In employment matters, we are unable to speak about a person’s past employments,” read the statement.
WRTV Investigates called a phone number for Jansen, but no one answered.
Resources for parents are available at:
- 25 Signs of Child Grooming and Abuse Parents Should Recognize - FamilyEducation [familyeducation.com]
- Online grooming: what it is and how to protect your child | Internet Matters [internetmatters.org]
- Grooming: Know the Warning Signs | RAINN [rainn.org]
- How to Recognize the Sexual Grooming of a Minor | Psychology Today [psychologytoday.com]
