Drunk school teacher swims underwater and bites 14-year-old girl's butt while she plays water volleyball
In a shocking incident, a former middle school teacher is about to serve 30 days in jail and four years on probation after he got drunk, swam underwater, and ended up biting a 14-year-old girl on her buttocks.
Jonathan William Helbert, the 30-year-old Georgia native, reached a plea agreement with Georgia prosecutors on Friday as a first offender plea to charges of battery, public drunkenness, and bribery, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Herbert — who is from Dacula, Georgia — was initially charged with sexual battery. But "The DA’s office dropped the sexual battery charge because “the sexual intent behind the sexual battery and the evidence is very different than other sexual assault cases,” giving prosecutors worry that a jury may not have convicted on that charge, according to the nolle prosequi, a notice filed by prosecutors detailing why they won’t pursue a charge," writes the AJC.
According to the Hall County Sheriff's Office, Herbert was swimming at the Lake Lanier Island beach in Buford, Georgia on the evening of July 4, and managed to swim underwater before biting the teen's buttocks while she was playing volleyball.
Investigators have revealed that Herbert had no connections to the girl or her family, and several different beachgoers and passersby who had witnessed the account had reported it to the police themselves. At around 8:30 pm, Herbert was taken into custody, and he was allegedly drunk at the time of arrest. Following that, Herbert had also tried to bribe a deputy with $200, but clearly, that didn't work as he was indicted on coming August 13.
A former Snellville Middle School teacher has pleaded guilty to biting a 14-year-old girl’s buttocks underwater at Lake Lanier Islands on July 4, Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh said. https://t.co/b7FeZnnFca
— Gwinnett County News (@GwinnettNewsNow) December 14, 2018
Herbert was a teacher at Snellville Middle School, and after his arrest, Gwinnett County Public Schools, which oversees Snellville, began an internal investigation. Shortly after, within a few weeks, Herbert ended up resigning from his position on August 1.
As for the case, the girl's family had no objection to the plea deal because they did not desire to see her testify, reports WSB-TV. As per the conditions of his sentence, court documents forbid Herbert from working as a teacher or to be seen in areas ‘where children congregate.' But since Herbert is also a first time offender, his battery, public drunkenness, and bribery charges will be wiped off from his record if he completes his sentence without any problems.
