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.

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