JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Baldwin Middle-Senior High School principal Michael Townsend’s arrest warrant details several instances when he was made aware of the inappropriate behavior between former social studies teacher James Mulvey and one of his students.
The report says two students gave Townsend, “...a picture of Mulvey and [victim] holding hands inside a classroom,” and that Townsend told the students, “[The victim] was essentially Mulvey’s “adopted daughter,” …and “he was showing “fatherly love.”
The report says Townsend called several concerned students into his office to speak about Mulvey’s behavior.
But students say Townsend said, “claimed to have already handled the situation.”
It goes on to say that “one student said the suspect told the group he had spoken to [victim’s] mother and she consented to the relationship between [the victim] and Mulvey.”
However, when investigators spoke with the victim’s mother, she told them that Townsend “never contacted her and that she had never personally spoken with Mulvey.”
And that she added, “she would never approve a relationship like the one she observed in the emails between [the victim] and Mulvey.”
The report also states that Townsend “met with Mulvey immediately before he officially reported the misconduct,”...he “warned Mulvey of the pending investigation and advised Mulvey to have no further contact with [the victim].”
We told you in May when Mulvey was arrested for offenses against students by an authority figure.
Michelle Suskauer is a Criminal Defense Attorney not affiliated with this case. She says this is a challenging case for the Principal because under Florida law, he is a mandatory reporter.
“Whether or not the principal thinks that they’re handling it, whether or not they think that it’s credible or not, it doesn’t matter. They’re a mandatory reporter, and they must follow the statute,” said Suskauer.
Townsend has since been released from the Duval County jail, and the district says he’s been reassigned.
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