Art teacher in Jay resigns, police investigations underway

Jay, Maine –

An art teacher from the Spruce Mountain School District in Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls has now resigned when he faces criminal charges.

The school officers had confirmed Maine's overall reporting that Jan Barlow was brought on vacation on Thursday, February 27, 2025.

On Thursday, superintendent Scott Albert told Maine's overall reporting that Barlow took his resignation on Tuesday, March 11th.

Albert said that due to the type of complaint, Jay Police, Maine Department of Health and Human Service and the certification departments of the Ministry of Education were notified.

According to the affidavit, Barlow is accused of manipulating witnesses and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Barlow was in court on Monday and a judge ordered him not to have contact with the alleged victim, a 15-year-old girl or the girl's mother.

The deposit was set at 5,000 US dollars and Barlow was instructed to hand over his passport before it could be released.

In court, the prosecutor said that Barlow had given the victim an explanation of how easy it would be to go to Thailand or in another state.

According to court documents, Barlow and the girl exchanged vigorous and sexual text messages, including explicit pictures and videos. The girl's mother says that she caught Barlow and her daughter in a video chat and found that the two had written an SMS for two weeks. According to court documents, the mother said that her daughter was fully dressed when she interrupted the video chat.

According to court documents, Barlow also told the girl that she loved her and told her that he would beat the case and that he had a black belt in karate.

The school authority met on Thursday evening for the first time since Barlow's resignation. The previous board meeting was on the day he was brought on vacation.

At the meeting, the headmaster Scott Albert spoke about the incident. He said in the future that they would check and optimize certain guidelines.

“The security and well -being of our students are our most important concern,” said Albert.

However, some people at the meeting stated

“I don't think an adult in this building didn't know what was going on,” said Tanya Demillo from Jay.

However, Jay chief Joseph Sage said that there is no indication that someone else knew what was going on.

“I think we have created a culture in which young people don't feel comfortable when we report forward and revealed some things,” said Sage.

Sage also said that other studies came from what has been going on lately.

While the investigation has not yet been completed, the tensions in the school corridors are high.

“Everyone talks about the security and care of the students, but ask most students and they will tell them that the school doesn't matter,” said the student Alana Wing.

Main's Total Coverage contacted Barlow on Thursday evening to get a comment, but we haven't heard yet.