UPDATE: John Glenn High School teacher charged with battery of a student has resigned

UPDATE:  John Glenn Superintendent Christopher Winchell has confirmed that John Barron has resigned from all positions at John Glenn High School.

While Barron will not be on the sidelines next season, Winchell is confident that they can keep the team heading in the right direction. 

"The leadership team is working diligently on the opening, and we are committed to supporting the football family in a way that maintains all of the momentum the boys have derived from the end of last season," Winchell said.

WALKERTON, Ind. -- John Glenn High School teacher and football coach John Barron has been removed from campus and charged with battery due to an incident with a female student.

"We have been notified by law enforcement that a John Glenn employee has been charged with battery against one of our students," the school wrote in a letter to parents. "We want you to know that when those allegations were initially reported the district acted immediately to not only inform the appropriate authorities but also to remove the employee from campus and any student contact. A thorough investigation has been conducted by both law enforcement and school district authorities."

"The safety, security, and well-being of our students and staff is our most important responsibility. Any allegation that potentially impacts that is immediately investigated and actions following the Indiana Code and the John Glenn School Board Policy are vigorously executed."

According to police, on Jan. 29 of this year, a former student told the Walkerton Police Department that she was sexually assaulted while attending John Glenn High School.

Specifically, she said that teacher John Barron would touch her butt on a continual basis, even after she asked him to stop.

"Victim 1 stated that it was when Barron asked her and her best friend (Witness 1) to help get things ready for a football banquet during homeroom," St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit investigators said. "She stated that while getting ready for this banquet which was on November 30, 2023, Barron slapped her butt. She stated that she was turning around placing an award on the table and he slapped her butt quickly and didn’t say anything after. Witness 1 was in the room when this incident occurred. Victim 1 stated that she wasn’t sure if Witness 1 saw him slap her butt, but they talked about it and Witness 1 made a comment about hearing the slap."

Authorities say that there is video surveillance footage from Nov. 20 at 8:32 a.m. in which, "Mr. Barron is on and off camera (office doorway) talking to Victim 1 who is sitting in the office. Victim 1 begins walking out of the office and goes through the doorway which is a blind spot-on camera. When Victim 1 comes back into view she is rubbing/touching her butt."

Authorities interviewed Barron on Feb. 1 where he stated that him and Victim 1 would text back-and-forth and that he is “hands on” with his students when it comes to his class.

Barron stated that he doesn’t recall slapping Victim 1 on the butt but if he did, it wasn’t meant to be sexual.

He admitted to authorities that “100%, I know why I’m here," and when an investigator told him that when you look at the entire situation it didn’t look good, Barron stated, “it wasn’t, not when you add them up all together.”

Barron was at Plymouth High School for 17 years before his tenure at John Glen High School.