Campbell Pleads Guilty, Gets Probation UPDATED
In the latest chapter of a teacher’s relationship with a student at the Episcopal School of Dallas, John Nathan Campbell pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child, a felony. He received 10 years of “community supervision” and will be a registered sex offender for life.
Campbell entered a signed confession of his relationship with Jane Doe, who was a 16-year-old student in his world history class at ESD. The other charge, improper student-educator relationship, was dropped.
After Campbell was sentenced, Jane made a statement.
“Today, I come here as a woman,” she said through tears. “Not the weak, innocent, and vulnerable girl that I was when you knew me.”
Campbell, 35, sat facing Jane and periodically clenched his jaw. Charla Aldous, who represented Jane and her family in the civil suit against the school, held her hand. Jane called Campbell “twisted” and “manipulative.”
“You left me here to explain your mess that you made and carried on for months, what a coward and a poor excuse for a man and a human being,” she said. “…I’ve had to suffer the ignorance and cruelty of many who don’t understand how your type of abuse worked.”
Jane, who is now in college, said she is “moving forward along the path God has made for [her],” and that she is not afraid.
“I’m proud of myself for coming forward and standing strong, even in the face of so much adversity,” she said. “Today, I’m the one who has the power.”
In September, Jane and her family won a $9.2 million settlement in civil court. ESD has vowed to appeal the verdict.
UPDATE 1:15 p.m.
When reached by phone, Campbell’s attorney Mark Nancarrow called the sentence, “a fair resolution.”
“Each [sexual assault] case is different,” he said. “This case had a lot of unique factors.”
One such factor, Nancarrow said, was that the victim had a lot of input on the sentencing. He said he didn’t believe Jane or her family had a strong desire for Campbell to go to prison.
“The main thing we were in agreement on was 10 years deferred adjudication,” Nancarrow said.
52 comments to "Campbell Pleads Guilty, Gets Probation UPDATED"
Shameful.
shame on you and your ilk.
esd will certainly continue to be villified if that is indeed the mindset of its supporters.
once the irs finishes with swann and his cohorts, there will be nothing left but the hollow anger and arrogance.
the sexual predator has more of a conscience than the administrators?
the whole ordeal sickens me.
give it a rest. give up, you lost.
they are showing a much more “christian” attitude than some of the supporters of ESD have shown to them.
1. Being a convicted felon and registered sex offender for life would be hell on earth, especially for someone of Campbell’s background. I’ve never worked for a company that did not do an extensive background check, so good luck getting a meaningful job.
2. It might be easier to sit in prison and have the state support me than to try and face reality and look for a job and a place to live. Remember if he goes to prison we all support him.
3. Jane clearly at one time had feelings for Campbell (which he so aptly groomed in her) and she is no doubt working through the difficult task of coming to terms with that. Her feelings may well still be mixed up and I can see where it could be hard to say prison is the best choice. I do get that, twisted as it may be. She was groomed. It worked.
4. It appears Campbell aided the plaintiffs by supplying damaging evidence against ESD. A bargain was struck. That happens all the time, even for far worse crimes like murder. I get that and would have done the same thing in her position.
5. Campbell admitted guilt, no question. He did it.
6. Campbell’s life is forever altered (as it should be), and his life will be very difficult to say the least. Jane’s life is forever altered, and she will struggle with mental health issues undoubtedly. And what of Swann/Royall/Mayo? I am not seeing how their lives have changed. They mishandled this situation so badly (and the jurors agreed) yet they are still employed, their lives go on. If the three of them would step down I believe justice would have been served for all.
7. Regarding Jane being coached by Aldous in her remarks, she would have been a fool not to accept expert advice. That is why you hire a good attorney, and it makes complete sense.
give it a rest. give up, you won.
ROTFLMAO. Thanks for the comic relief!
ESD is a great school, and my kids have been very happy with it, as have my spouse and I. However, I do feel that a change in leadership is necessary to relieve the strain this trial has brought.
Without an overhaul of the board (John Eagle et. al), the school will continue to stay in its current publicity rut.
and during all of this, I have not heard one comment from any of them that would blame Jane Doe or defend what those at the top of the administration did to her.
most just want this to end and for their lives and their school to get back to normal. they, like most here, find the name calling of the victim to be in bad taste.
that will not stop those of you that see all of the actions of Jane Doe and her family to be only about the money or to see that somehow she was at fault for all of this.
take all the shots you want at me, but at the end of the day, I and most others know who is in the wrong here.
It baffles me that people can still get mad at “ESD supporters” for pointing that out…maybe the school did something wrong and deserves to be punished, but why didn’t they want to punish the teacher to the full extent too? For those of you who said it was because they didn’t need vindication, it seems like they sure did need vindication from the school when they asked for $10 million..the whole thing is very off putting.
I had a child in Jane Does’ class. I still have a child at ESD. It is OUR HOUSE.
I have said this, but the Doe family has done a great injustice in letting him get deferred adjudication. WHO WILL HIS NEXT VICTIM BE?
how ironic you are more concerned about who is next victim will be. i bet as long as it is not an ESD student, you will be fine with it.
As for ESD “trying to do the right thing” – what vain imagination!
And as for the article that mentioned that the Doe family was dossapointed he didn’t serve hail time – that article took that quote from Aldous. It’s funny that Aldous says they were disappointed in just one article while two other news sources (PHP and Dallas Morning News) both got the information – all factual – that the Does had a say in Campbell not going to jail.
Nathan Campbell’s next victim is who I feel sorry for now. Why? Because there will be a young woman who, because this family (in my opinion) cared more about getting money from MY school instead of putting a sexual predator away in jail.
I wish all the professional bloggers would just get off of this and let the people who really know the family, the school, and Nathan Campbell do the blogging.
“Time to clean “OUR HOUSE”
As for the parents, I am sure they have suffered for their lack of vigilance more than you will ever know.
But you cannot dismiss and exclude outsiders from a newspaper blog like you do in your community. There is a big world outside your tall walls. ” Other people ” live in it and are free to express views that do not reflect your values or lack of them. Deal with it.
Do you really think that your nasty posts are changing anyone’s mind? Do you think if you are a pain long enough that the Does will get a check or fire anyone?
It is not going to happen. All your hate, greed and lies will just make the ESD community stronger and closer.
Maybe you are not up on current events but the the Does cut a deal with Campbell to let him off. They proved they were all about the money. OK. No one is buying your “victim” act any more. Time for another fake protest! LOL Maybe you can fly those SNAP folks in again.
Do you actually believe your nasty posts will change anyone’s mind? NO. Do you believe that if you whine long enough on here that the verdict will change? NO.
Frankly your comments are so outrageous that I sometimes wonder if you yourself don’t believe them and are just writing them for your own amusement. Which is fine. This is a blog, but if you care about ESD please stop. The absurdity of your posts renders them and you not believable.
You don’t like my posts skip them.
This whole mess must make the blood boil of those parents whose kids didnt get into St. Marks or Hockaday and who thought they found a good alternative to those incredible schools. A few spots each year do open up at St. Marks and Hockaday, so all is not lost, ESD parents…
No jail time for Campbell – let the excuses begin. Res ipsa loquitur.
Excuses by bloggers? You actually care? The only jury that has heard the case has spoken. You want to hear another one? Awesome, it will cost you 1-2 million to find out. And that is the gamble 1-2 million to save ESD how much of the 9.2 million verdict.
The lot’s for lots and lol tells me Nancy.
“Sure lot’s of cattiness on display here lately – lol. So much for substance…No jail time for Campbell – let the excuses begin. Res ipsa loquitur.”
I don’t understand why jail time wasn’t given in this criminal portion of this matter.
I don’t understand why the victim and the family of the victim didn’t pressure the prosecutors to give jail time; based on what has been written in the press, it doesn’t seem as though they asked for jail time, despite Jane Doe calling Nathan Campbell “twisted” and “manipulative” after he was sentenced…to not even one day in jail; probation.
I’d want the “twisted,” “manipulative” man who took my virginity by rape to see the inside of a prison (for quite some time). If it is a fact that the Does (all of them; mother father and daughter) didn’t really want, didn’t demand jail time for Nathan Campbell, then it really makes me wonder why. Why would they pursue this case so vigorously in civil court but not in criminal court? From Jane’s quotes in the article above, I doubt she, or her family have forgiven Nathan Campbell for what he did (they certainly didn’t forgive ESD).
I don’t judge the family for suing ESD; that was their right. But, I do question why they didn’t demand that Campbell rot in jail for a while–didn’t he do something heinous enough to Jane (and her family) that he should be punished harshly? Didn’t he put them through a terrible, life-changing ordeal? 10 years of “community supervision” and being forced to register as a sex offender doesn’t seem nearly harsh enough punishment.
I can’t imagine that the community will be enhanced, or in any way safer by Nathan Campbell’s restricted/monitored presence in it for the next 10 years after having spent no time confined for the sexual abuse he admitted to perpetrating.
It seems as though the civil case against the big, wealthy institution was pursued with great vigor and energy, yet the criminal case against the person ultimately culpable of raping a 16 year old girl was not given the same vigor and energy. Yes, Campbell plead guilty, and admitted to his crime; but should that be rewarded with a more lenient sentence? In this case, it doesn’t seem appropriate or just.
ESD has to pay? Yeah, I think they probably should; it doesn’t sound like they handled any of this very well, and that’s very disappointing. Everyone makes mistakes, and those mistakes have consequences. But money doesn’t give Jane Doe, or her family, their lives back; it doesn’t put them back to where they were before all of this happened. Neither would jail time for Nathan Campbell, but, at least he would experience some very harsh consequences for his heinous criminal conduct–proportionately harsh when compared with the civil jury verdict levied against ESD.
I can’t imagine it will be easy for “The Does” to remain in Dallas, and I doubt they will; they’re anonymous only to people who don’t know them. The problem now is that they’ll have to wait it out here for another 1-3 years while the multimillion-dollar judgment (designed by our system to make them as whole as possible for their injuries) most likely goes up on appeal.
At the end of the day, for being raped by a teacher, and for ultimately being forced to leave her school because of it, the largest form of “justice” Jane Doe and her family gets is a $9.2 Million judgment (subject to appeal).
For that non-final judgment, she and her family had to give up their privacy, many of their friends and acquaintances, and ultimately their lives as they knew them–and pursuit of civil justice is likely still far from over. Meanwhile the related criminal case is over and her rapist will spend zero days in jail for his crime; today he is relatively free to walk among us.
Sure, he’s marked for the rest of the days he walks the Earth, but so is Jane, and so is her family. Nathan Campbell will always be that teacher from ESD who raped Jane Doe, but Jane Doe will always be the girl whose rapist didn’t spend a day in jail for what he did to her. At least money can pay for therapy; I can think of a family who is going to need a lifetime of it.
Justice served?
*Apparently ESD thinks that John Eagle apologizing on the stand twice about how the situation was handled and then turning around an hour later and putting out a statement saying that they stand fully behind how the administration handled the situation is somehow a legitimate apology.
Did Jane come back from her faraway college to testify?
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