Educator arrested on multiple charges

Kevin Green, Greensburg Daily News, Ind.
·2 min read

May 1—DECATUR COUNTY — An Osgood resident hired by Decatur County Community Schools on November 9, 2022 as a special education teacher has been arrested on multiple charges.

According to a news release provided by the Decatur County Sheriff's Department, at 4:44 p.m. Friday, April 28, Paige Marie Simon, 28, was arrested by deputies of the DCSD at her rural Osgood residence.

Simon was arrested on a warrant issued by the Decatur Circuit Court in Cause Number 16C01-2304-F6-439.

Charges she faces include stalking, a Level 6 felony; official misconduct, also a Level 6 felony; and battery, a Class B misdemeanor.

The news release states that these charges are the result of an investigation by the Decatur County Sheriff's Department that began on April 6, 2023.

The probable cause affidavit in this case states that on April 6, 2023 a detective with the DCSD was notified by Deputy Chief Blodgett of an investigation of possible child solicitation that had been reported by the parent of a minor identified as J1, and that J1 was 15 years of age at the time the alleged incidents took place.

The parent said her son had been receiving inappropriate text messages from one of his teachers at South Decatur High School.

J1's father later told investigators there were approximately 600 text messages between his son and Simon, some that involved sexual content.

The investigation determined that most of those texts were sent after school hours, some between 9 p.m. and midnight. The probable cause affidavit indicates that those messages included sexually explicit jokes and images.

A call to DCCS Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Burns midday Monday regarding Simon's employment status was not returned.

Assisting in this investigation were administrators from the Decatur County School Corporation, School Resource Officers with the Decatur County School Corporation, Indiana State Department of Child Services, and the Indiana State Police.

Simon's Facebook page states that she is a special educator at South Decatur Jr-Sr High School. According to court documents, she resigned from Jac-Cen-Del mid-semester in 2022.

Decatur County Sheriff Bill Meyerrose reminds anyone following this case that all accused of committing a crime are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.