Warrants detail case of teacher

Another county adds abuse charge

CHAPEL HILL -- On MySpace.com, the popular middle school science teacher and football coach was known as "Coach Jones." But when he instant messaged with a 15-year-old Orange County boy, he called himself "NiceguyfromNC27707."

Under that alias, police say, David Jones asked the boy to meet somewhere "such as a park or perhaps his parents could drop him off at a movie theater."

All of this is according to search warrants made public Thursday, the day after the teacher's arrest. Now Jones, 46, of 113 Hampton Court in Chapel Hill, is being held in the Orange County jail in lieu of $1 million bail, charged with solicitation of a child by computer to commit an unlawful sexual act.

Also Thursday, Wake County deputies charged Jones with taking indecent liberties with a child in an incident April 17, said Phyllis Stephens, public information director for the Wake County Sheriff's Office. Another $100,000 was tacked onto Jones' bail for that charge, according to a news release.

During his first appearance Thursday morning in District Court, Jones said he would hire a private lawyer.

At $1 million, the bail is extremely high for charges that don't require mandatory prison sentences if a person is found guilty. Although both charges are felonies, they are relatively low-level felonies. Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall said he expected more possible victims to be identified and more charges to be filed.

Jones has worked for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools for 23 years. He is a popular science teacher and football coach at Phillips Middle School, and a Boy Scout leader.

But on Wednesday, he was suspended. The first football practice of the year, originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed until the school can find a replacement coach, said school system spokeswoman Stephanie Knott.

Wake County deputies had been investigating a complaint involving Jones for some time, according to law enforcement.

On Sunday, the father of the 15-year-old in Orange County called deputies because of communication between his son and "NiceguyfromNC27707."

According to search warrants for Jones' home and Phillips Middle School, a 14-year-old told the other boy that he had had sex with "NiceguyfromNC27707," who also had sent a photo of himself to the boy.

That is part of what identified Jones, the warrants said.

On Tuesday, the father and son went to the sheriff's office, and a deputy logged onto the boy's AOL Instant Messenger account and communicated with "NiceguyfromNC27707," who wrote that he would visit the boy's home about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and would be driving a black Ford Explorer.

Using the boy's account, the deputy asked what the two of them would do.

"We kiss some first," the man wrote back.

At 10:30 a.m. that day, Jones arrived at the boy's house in a black Ford Explorer with a tube of KY Jelly, two condoms and a digital camera, according to the warrants.

Deputies seized Jones' personal laptop and a school computer at Phillips Middle School. At his home, they took another computer, a camera case and camera box, 19 VHS tapes, including one labeled "You Are Not Alone," the title of a 1977 Danish coming-out movie, according to Yahoo movies.

Investigators also took condoms, lubricant, cell phone bills and other items.