Man Found Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting Teen Girl Slashed His Throat In Court: Jeffrey Jones Was Previously A Teacher

A man, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a teen girl, slashed his throat in court on Wednesday. The convicted Jeffrey Jones was previously a teacher at Libra Academy in Huntington Park, the OC Register reports.

Jeffrey Jones, 56, was arrested and convicted of sexual assault charges against a teenage girl. When Jones was found guilty at his hearing on Wednesday, he pulled out a razor and slashed his throat.

Lt. Mark Stichter of the sheriff’s department told reporters that when deputies attempted to give Jones first aid, he was uncooperative and had to be handcuffed. Orange County Fire Authority’s Capt. Larry Kurtz did state that Jones was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The sheriff’s department is unsure how Jones managed to get a razor through the security check point and into the court room.

Ed Welbourn, Jones’ attorney, was in shock when it happened.

“It was totally unexpected and very unfortunate. 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.”

Welbourn said that immediately after Jones cut his throat with the razor, he fell, hit his head off a table, and blood came pouring out of his neck.

Jones had “confidence in his innocence” and showed no signs of mental distress prior to the incident.

Jones has been convicted of sexually assaulting a teen back in September of 2012 and up to April of 2013. It has been revealed that the girl was a relative to Jones’ girlfriend, but no further information was provided to protect the teen’s identity.

Prosecutors did reveal that since the alleged abuse, the teen had been living in juvenile hall, youth homes, and even on the street. She was arrested once for stealing a bike while in the process of running away.

Jones has not yet been sentenced, but he will attend a sentencing hearing on November 4. According to ABC 7, Jones faces up a possibility of life in state prison.

It has also been alleged that Jones raped the girl two times in May, 2013.

During the alleged time of the assaults, Jones worked at Libra Academy. Prior to that, he was a teacher at Bell High School and Gahr High School for almost 30 years.

Jones was arrested in June, 2013. Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown revealed that Jones’ DNA showed up in the girl’s sexual assault test.

A similar situation occurred back in 2008, when a Springfield man slashed his throat in front of a jury when he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child.

Donald Gibson used a fragment from a battery casing to slash his throat after the guilty verdict. The man did not die and has since been back to court for violating his probation, which added an additional seven to eight years to his original sentence of eight to 10 years.

While Welbourn believes there is reasonable doubt that Jones is guilty of the sex charge, he respects the jury’s decision, Fox 11 reveals.

“It’s very unfortunate, the whole thing. We respect the jury’s decision, but we thought there was reasonable doubt as to what occurred… It’s just terrible. The good news is it looks like he will recover.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown told the court that Jones’ girlfriend accused the girl of framing Jones.

Evidence presented at court shows that Jones previously had relationships with two minors, who were 16 and 17 years old at the time. After he allegedly married the 16-year-old, he later had the 17-year-old move in with him and even got her pregnant when she turned 18.

[Featured Image by Andy Dean/AP Images]