Ex-Wayne Township School Official Finally Charged With Child Seduction

Fox 59 News' Russ McQuaid broke the story two years ago about Wayne Township Schools Chief of Operations, John Maples, taste for underage girls. Finally, a single charge of child seduction has been filed against Maples, who abruptly resigned his position when questions about his misconduct with underage girls first surfaced. WRTV's Kara Kenney describes the charges filed against Maples:

The former chief operations officer for Wayne Township Schools faces child seduction charges amid accusations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.

A warrant was issued Friday for the arrest of John R. Maples, 61, on seven felony counts of child seduction.

Police began investigating in July, when a former Ben Davis High School student came forward alleging that she and Maples had a sexual relationship beginning when she was a 16-year-old junior and working on the district's grounds crew.

The girl told police she first met Maples during a class trip in May 2009. That June, he called her to offer her a job mowing grass for the district, she said.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the girl said the relationship turned sexual in early spring 2010, when she was a 17-year-old senior at Ben Davis.

The girl said she and Maples kissed and engaged in sexual acts several times at his home and in his truck.

But when she tried to end the relationship that summer, the girl said Maples was upset and would often come to the grounds crew's office when she was working and would watch her mow grass from his yard next to the high school.

According to the affidavit, the girl went to school administrators with the allegations in November 2010, prompting an internal investigation.

When he was interviewed by the district's head of personnel, Maples said he was "shocked" by the allegations, and insisted, "I did not do that," according to the affidavit.

Maples retired from his position shortly after the interview.

There's probably a lot more to come. If officials dig deeply enough, they will find they had a Jerry Sandusky-like problem in the Wayne Township Schools that was ignored by school officials for too many years. Maples' home adjoined school property, and he had his own private entry to the school grounds from his home. He also had a motor coach that appeared to be worth several hundred thousand dollars that he used for entertaining and taking trips to Florida. I'm surprised that with all the money the school system has spent on attorneys with various investigations they haven't closely scrutinize spending by the administration besides the former superintendent's bloated retirement package. That school system has been short-changed by the attorneys to whom they've been paying big bucks the past couple of years.