Ex-Randolph County elementary principal charged with sexual misconduct with student
EDITOR'S NOTE: The criminal charges against Ashley Breedlove were later dismissed and related court records have been expunged.
Randolph County Prosecutor David Daly said the case was dropped due to inconsistent accounts provided by the accuser.
WINCHESTER, Ind. — A woman who until recently was principal of Union Elementary School has been accused of engaging in sexual behavior with a male student in his early teens.
Ashley A. Breedlove, 34, of Farmland, was arrested Tuesday on a Randolph Circuit Court warrant charging her with five counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. She was released from the Randolph County jail after posting a $12,000 bond.
One of the misconduct charges filed against her was a Level 4 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison, while the other four were Level 5 felonies with maximum six-year sentences.
According to court documents, a detective with the Randolph County Sheriff's Department viewed two videos, one of which showed Breedlove giving the juvenile a hug in a school hallway, and another that showed her kissing the boy's neck on a school bus.
During a later interview with the detective, the boy — apparently in junior high school at the time of his dealings with Breedlove— provided details of alleged sexual encounters with the principal in her office at the elementary school.
The child reported he and the principal had also communicated online via Facebook Messenger, and that she had sent him a copy of a message informing her she was being suspended from her job s a result of an "inappropriate relationship with a student."
The detective reported Breedlove declined to be interviewed. He obtained a search warrant to seize the Farmland woman's cellphone.
A news release issued Tuesday by the Union School Corporation said Breedlove resigned as principal of Union Elementary School in Modoc on Oct. 18.
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"Providing a safe school environment and a high-quality education to our students have always been paramount," Superintendent Michael Huber said in the release. "With this in mind, Union School Corporation supports the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department and Randolph County prosecutor’s office."
That release said school officials could not comment on the allegations against the former principal.
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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Former elementary principal accused of sexual misconduct with student
