Ex-Newport News assistant principal accused of sex crimes against Chesapeake student enters plea agreement
A former band teacher at Western Branch High School in Chesapeake pleaded guilty Monday to six counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.
Prosecutors agreed to withdraw six felony charges of sodomy by force and one felony charge of rape by force in exchange for Jason Michael Taylor’s guilty plea to the other charges.
According to previous reporting, Taylor was arrested Nov. 2, 2022, after a former female student reported him to police. The charges were for crimes suspected to have taken place between August 2015 to June 2018.
At a November hearing, prosecutor Arielle Mitchell said Taylor had physical contact with the student that started with hugs and kisses on the forehead, then progressed to oral, anal and vaginal assault. The student was 14 or 15 when crimes began and 18 when they ended, Mitchell said.
Taylor’s defense attorney, Shawn Cline, said the plea agreement is “fair” and “captures what happened.”
“It was certainly an illegal and inappropriate relation with a student, but it was not achieved through force,” Cline said.
Prosecutors agreed to seek no more than 10 years in prison for Taylor when he is sentenced July 7. Cline intends to argue for fewer years.
Taylor left Western Branch High School in 2017 and was an assistant principal at Warwick High School in Newport News at the time of his arrest. Newport News Public Schools had suspended him in November and said Tuesday he is no longer employed with the division.
Taylor was released on bond in November.
Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, cianna.morales@virginiamedia.com
