Bowers charged with conduct harmful

A former teacher has been charged in court for alleged crimes committed during the 2023-24 school year.

Joel R. Bowers, 37, 116 S. Middle St., Portland, is accused of masturbating in front of a class of eighth grade students on April 9. Bowers was arrested Tuesday and charged in Jay Superior Court with performance before a minor that is harmful to minors and dissemination of matter harmful to minors, both Level 6 felonies. He was released from Jay County Jail on a $3,000 bond.

Bowers was placed on administrative leave from Jay County Junior-Senior High School on April 11 following allegations of misconduct. The former social studies teacher later resigned from his position.

He was also chair of the Democratic Party in Jay County at the time of the incident and resigned his post shortly after. (In June, Jay County Democrats elected former two-term Portland mayor Randy Geesaman as their new chair.)

According to a report filed in connection with the case, a 14-year-old girl told school resource officer Cody Jessee on April 10 that Bowers masturbated in her sixth period class at the junior-senior high the previous day.

She told Jessee about the alleged incident and gave a written statement.

According to the report, she texted her mother about the situation and sent her pictures and videos of the situation. She alleged Bowers stayed at his class the entire period and would not get out of his seat.

“There was white stuff on his pants and he would not get up for anything,” she said, according to the report. “He had his hand down there and was sweating but it was cold in his room. His hands was down there but when someone went up there he would wipe his hand off with paper towel …”

The report says photos taken of Bowers during the class period show his shirt partially untucked, with a white stain in the crotch area as well as at the bottom of his pants. Video footage shows him at his desk, looking down, with one hand under the desk as if he were on his cellphone, according to the report.

Other students also witnessed the alleged incident and reported similar views, mentioning his hand movements beneath his desk and stains on his pants and noticing he was sweating profusely.

Students alleged he was acting out of character, saying Bowers normally would go to the board or walk around class and begin teaching but on April 9 stayed in his seat. If students had questions, they told police, Bowers would ask them to come to his desk. One 14-year-old girl told police Bowers overheard students talking in class about what he was doing, and he told them he was using his phone for other reasons. Students also alleged he looked at students’ buttocks as they stood or walked away from his desk.

During an interview with police April 17, Bowers showed the pants he wore the day of the alleged incident. Bowers told police the white stain on his pants — police noted it was located in the same spot as the students indicated — was paint, and he denied touching himself during class. He was served a search warrant for his phone and cooperated with police, the report says.

Police discovered a Snapchat conversation Bowers had with a person indicating they were 15 years old. According to the report, Bowers sent pictures of his erect penis to the recipient. The report indicates there were other conversations in which he sent nude pictures of himself to females as well.

Bowers told police the conversation had nothing to do with the April 9 incident. He told police he believed she was an adult because they met on a chat platform called Free Chat Now, which requires that individuals must be 18 years old or older to use it. Bowers noted its age restriction is loosely enforced because users only need to provide a name and date of birth. Bowers said they couldn’t exchange photos on the platform and switched to Snapchat to engage in what he allegedly called “age play.”

Bowers admitted to police he should have stopped the conversation when the person said they were 15, according to the report. It says he told them he was not sure of her actual age but had “got caught up in the moment.”

When asked if he looked at underage porn sites, Bowers advised he Googled “youngest or younger porn.” He also admitted to sending nude photos of himself to other women in the past.

According to mycase.IN.gov, Bowers has no criminal history beyond a traffic infraction.

In Indiana, sentences for Level 6 felonies range between six months to two and a half years, with an advisory sentence of one year.