County Sheriff’s Department to investigate incident.
A 56-year-old English teacher slashed his throat in a courtroom after a California court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a teenager, reported OC Register.
Jeffrey Scott Jones, who taught Advanced Placement English classes at the Libra Academy in Huntington Park, cut his throat using a razor blade moments after the court pronounced the verdict. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, with non-life threatening injuries, said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Officers had to put handcuffs on Jones who had been free on bail after he restrained to co-operate with them. He remained under guard on Wednesday evening.
“His head hit the table, and I thought he fainted. But then I saw the blood and the razor on the table,” prosecutor Heather Brown told City News Service.
Everyone in the courtroom was shocked to see the teacher cutting his throat. “It was totally unexpected and very unfortunate,” Ed Welbourn, Jones attorney was quoted as saying by OC Register.
“I didn’t see it happen, my attention was on the jury, but from what people tell me he had a blade somewhere in his clothing and he pulled it out when the verdicts were read,” he said.
Jones faces a 66-year imprisonment for molesting and having sex with a teenage relative of his girlfriend between 2012 and 2013. The result of a DNA test was also against the teacher.
Though the defense attorney argued that the DNA test was not conclusive, the court convicted Jones of continuous sexual assault of a child. The girl’s relationship with Jones has been kept undisclosed to avoid identifying the victim.
The county Sheriff’s Department will investigate how Jones managed to enter the court with the blade. The county has also decided to provide counseling to the court employees and judges who have witnessed the incident.