Former student accused of pretending to be a substitute teacher reportedly told two white students they were the type of people who would start school shootings and asked a girl whether she wanted to be a stripper or a hooker, according to prosecutors.
Amy Jones, 23, of Milwaukee, faces six felony counts and may get up to 21 years behind bars if found guilty. Prosecutors claim that on September 24th, she came to the school, said she was there to substitute, and was assigned a classroom for the first three periods of the day.
Students reported a school resource officer that Jones cursed, used racial slurs and sexually degrading language, and sorted students by race and gender, according to the criminal complaint.
One 16-year-old boy said that Jones screamed at the class, calling a student a “fat boy.” He reported that she asked a girl if she wanted to be a “stripper or a hooker” and told two white boys that they were “the type of people to start school shootings.”
Other students said that Jones asked whether they were gay or virgins. At least one student taped part of the class and gave the video to the police, the complaint says.
Principal Doreen Badillo told the investigators that eight teachers had called in sick that day and only seven classes were covered. She said that she believed that Jones “got lucky” because there happened to be an unfilled position.
According to the complaint, Badillo learned what was going on during third period and had Jones escorted out of the building.
Later, when questioned by a detective, Jones admitted she had a “birds and the bees talk” with students and acknowledged it was inappropriate. When asked why she came to the school, she said she was bored.
“I hate kids, and I was just messing around,” Jones reportedly told police.
Jones is charged with one felony count of falsely representing herself as a public employee and five felony counts of exposing a child to harmful descriptions or narrations. All the charges are Class I felonies in Wisconsin, and each is punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine, totaling up to 21 years behind bars.
Prosecutors identified Jones as a former Rufus King student. The school is a Milwaukee Public Schools college preparatory magnet school with the International Baccalaureate program.
Milwaukee Public Schools did not comment for the camera for WISN, which was the first to report the details of the complaint, but pointed to a letter sent to parents. The district said it is conducting its own investigation alongside the police investigation and will do everything it can to make Rufus King a safe environment for students and employees.
