Case of Lex teacher charged with endangering children dismissed on boy's request

Yahoo

22-04-2025

LEXINGTON – The case against a Lexington High School teacher charged with endangering children has been dismissed at the request of the alleged victim.
What is in dispute is what actually happened.
Jim Steele, 37, is a health and physical education teacher at the high school, as well as an assistant football coach.
According to the initial police report, Steele made a sophomore boy do push-ups on hot asphalt on Aug. 29 during a week with a heat advisory that delayed the next day's varsity football game an hour. He was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor.
The trial was supposed to begin Tuesday in Mansfield Municipal Court before Judge Mike Kemerer. Instead, the sophomore asked for the case to be dismissed. He chose Good Friday for his request.
"In support of this motion, the State submits that the victim, after dealing with this case for nine months, has decided that there is no better day than Good Friday to show grace and forgiveness," Scott Christophel, assistant law director for the city of Norwalk and the special prosecutor in this case, wrote in his motion to dismiss.
"God forgives us whether we deserve it or not and the victim wishes to do the same," Christophel noted.
Defense Attorney James Mayer III reacted to the case's resolution.
"First of all, we don't have any control over what the other side puts in a motion to dismiss," he said.
Mayer added he was not surprised by the motion.
"I feel like it's the right outcome. I feel strongly about that," he said. "From the beginning, there was never a negotiation in this case. There was never going to be any negotiation. This was either trial or dismissal."
The parents of the sophomore supported his decision.
"I couldn't be more proud of his courage," the boy's father told the News Journal. "It was a more mature decision than most men would make."
Mayer said the reason behind the dismissal was a first for him.
"In my 25-year career, I've never seen a case dismissed based on an upcoming religious holiday," the defense attorney said. "It's my opinion and the opinion of my co-counsel (Sean Boone), that had we tried this case, it was going to be clear that the case was built on a series of false accusations, lies."
The News Journal is not naming the father to protect the juvenile's identity.
Steele has been with Lexington Local Schools since August 2021. He has been on administrative leave virtually the entire school year.
Superintendent Jeremy Secrist did not return calls from the News Journal seeking comment.
The alleged victim said Steele seemed to take offense about him wanting a "chest day" instead of conditioning. A typical chest day workout includes a mix of pressing and pulling exercises to target the pectoralis major, minor and anterior deltoid muscles.
He said the teacher made him get down on the hot asphalt and do "shuffle push-ups" down the track, an allegation Mayer disputes.
According to the initial police report, the boy fell about the 30-yard line because his hands were burning. He said Steele told him to start over and had him do the push-ups on the grass.
Two security cameras on the football field recorded the incident. There was no audio.
"I don't want people to think this man is innocent," the boy's father said, adding the family has not received an apology or an acknowledgement of wrongdoing from Steele. "As parents, that was tough to accept."
Mayer, however, said the video exonerates his client.
"In 2025, it's trial by video," he said. "We don't have to just take the word of what someone says anymore as to what happened. In addition to that, we also had six eyewitnesses, six students that were taking the class."
Mayer said their versions supporting Steele were consistent when they talked to Lexington police and high school Principal Jamie Masi in separate interviews.
"The students stated that the workout did not seem like punishment and that Mr. Steele did not appear mad," School Resource Officer Mike Glennon wrote in his report. "When asked if (boy) was forced to do the workout, the students stated that he was given an option to do the plank walks or the conditioning, and he chose to do the plank walks."
Mayer added he was going to call all six boys to testify, as well as Steele, whom he called a decorated Army combat veteran with no prior record.
"He has made it his life's work to coach and help young people get the very most out of their athletic ability," Mayer said, adding he has never seen such an outpouring of support for one of his clients. "The eyewitnesses' families called this office, at least three or four of them, and said that their kids wanted to do anything they could to make sure that the truth got out there of what happened that day."
After leaving the track, the boy told police when he went to the field house and showed Steele his hands, the teacher brushed him off and told him to get the battle ropes, another exercise involving use of hands. The sophomore said he stayed after class to run his palms under cold water.
"You can take choice out of the matter," the boy's father said. "If you as a teacher or coach, if you provide something as a workout and you oversee it, you're responsible for any injuries that occur, and you're obliged to provide care."
His parents said the boy sustained second-degree burns across his palms after doing 117 push-ups.
"By the second or third day, there were full-on blisters covering his hands," his father said.
While Mayer acknowledged the boy had blisters, he said, "I don't think we're here to contest that the track was hot. What we're here to say is that he was never told to get down on the track."
The defense attorney added "without guidance," the boy did push-ups on the track on his own. When he complained of the heat, Mayer said Steele told him he could do push-ups on the grass.
According to Mayer, when the boy still felt the surface was too hot, Steele gave him the option of going back to the originally scheduled conditioning.
The defense attorney said Steele went out of his way to give the alleged victim a different workout from the other students.
"Steele could have shut that down and said, 'No, it's conditioning. That's what we're doing,''' Mayer said. "When you have English class and it's time to read 'Lord of the Flies,' you don't go to the teacher and say you're going to read comic books."
The boy's father said his son was going through trial preparation before making his decision.
"I think he's been frustrated and upset. I think he wanted justice," the father said.
The family's faith has been a source of comfort while the case has been pending. The boy is active in his church.
"We have spent a lot of time praying about the direction of this case," the boy's father said. "We wanted the best outcome for everybody. We wanted God to be honored; this gives glory back to Him."
He added that the state made several attempts at a plea bargain.
"We just wanted him (Steele) to admit that he did something wrong," the dad said. "I don't think Steele is a bad guy. I think he made a really bad decision or a series of bad decisions. There was a solid case, and there was a high probability he would have been found guilty.
"I want people to know it happened."
Asked if he thought Steele did anything wrong, Mayer was succinct.
"This is an easy one. I don't," the defense attorney said. "These videos confirm what happened that day, and we had six eyewitnesses."
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Endangering children case against Lexington teacher dismissed