JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 48-year-old Michael Townsend, the now former principal at Baldwin Middle-Senior High School, has been arrested. He’s charged with failing to report child abuse, which is a third-degree felony.
The High school Regional superintendent sent parents this message Monday:
“This is Regional Superintendent Tim Simmons with a very important update regarding Mr. Townsend.
“This morning, we were made aware that Mr. Townsend was arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on the charge of failure to report child abuse, which is a third-degree felony.
“While news like this is difficult to share, especially when it involves a former school leader, it is important that we remain transparent with our school communities. Please know the safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. If you have any questions about the criminal investigation, you may contact JSO directly.
“Thank you for your continued support of the Baldwin community.”
Michelle Suskauer, a criminal defense lawyer and past president of the Florida bar says not reporting child abuse as an administrator is a serious crime.
“If they do not report information that they may have regarding abuse of children, whether it’s sexual, whether it is physical, they are obligated to report. And that is they’re facing possible felony charges,” Suskauer said.
She says she’s seen cases like this before where a principal in the same exact situation had to face the consequence.
“As recently as in the last year, two years in Palm Beach County, principal and administrators, vice principal and teachers were arrested and faced felony charges as a result of this exact situation,” Suskauer said.
Action News Jax told you in May when James Mulvey, who taught social studies at Baldwin Senior High School, was arrested for offenses against students by an authority figure. Documents created by someone who claims to be a student, known as the Mulvey files, show what appears to be email communication between Mulvey and a possible student.
In them, we see the student refer to Mulvey as dad and Mulvey refer to the student as daughter repeatedly.
As well as several exchanges of “I love you’s”.
While it is not clear or confirmed that these cases are connected, Suskauer says if they are, these now public documents, if tied to either case, could make things worse.
“If they got this information, they are not the judge and jury; they’re not the arbiter of whether they think it happened or not they have a sole obligation to report,” Suskauer said.
Earlier this month, Townsend was reassigned due to an internal personnel investigation.
We did reach out to the school district to ask if Townsend’s arrest is connected to Mulvey’s case. We did not hear back.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
