News

Polk teacher convicted of taking indecent liberties with a student

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 13, 2024

A 51-year-old Polk County High School business teacher was given a suspended sentence to six to 17 months in prison and ordered to serve 10 days in jail after a jury convicted him of indecent liberties with a student in November 2022, R. Andrew Murray announced Thursday.

Special Superior Court Judge Clifton Smith also ordered the teacher, John Brian Taylor, of Landrum, S.C., to complete a substance abuse assessment and complete any recommended treatment and to have no contact with the victim.

According to the investigation and court trial records, detectives and deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call at Polk County High School about an incident between Taylor and a teenage student. Upon arriving, deputies received information that the student had been inappropriately touched by a teacher and that she ran from him after the incident occurred. Law enforcement reviewed the school’s security video monitoring system and confirmed that the victim exited and ran from Taylor’s classroom at the time of the reported assault.

After meeting with school resource officers and administrative faculty, law enforcement arrested Taylor and transported him to the Polk County Jail. While Taylor was in custody, investigators gathered information from his jail calls during which he admitted to making inappropriate comments to a student, Murray said in a news release.

After his arrest on Nov. 15, 2022, Taylor was placed on administrative leave during the investigation and has since resigned from his position and forfeited his teaching license.

During the trial, Polk County Schools Superintendent Aaron Greene testified about a conversation he had with Taylor on the date of the incident. Greene told the jury that during this conversation Taylor admitted to luring the teenage student to his classroom to be alone with her, turning off the lights, pulling down the door shade and locking the door, and grabbing the juvenile victim by the waist with both hands and pulling her into his body. When asked why, Taylor replied he wanted to kiss her.

Taylor took the stand in his own defense and attempted to convince the jury that he was so impaired from alcohol during the incident that he was unaware of his actions and therefore unable to form the necessary criminal intent to commit the crime of taking indecent liberties with a student. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before retuning a verdict of guilty.

Assistant District Attorney Clifton Neal prosecuted the case and handled the sentencing hearings. The District Attorney’s Office thanked the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation of the case and their commitment to protecting the citizens of Polk County.