A Bartlett Independent School District teacher ousted last year over sexual misconduct allegations is now facing felony sex crime charges involving students.
Jerod Lee Knox, 26, was arrested Thursday and charged with improper relationship between educator and student and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Both offenses are second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
The case dates back to January 2025, when a 17-year-old student accused Knox of touching them inappropriately and making “explicit statements” while the student was at Knox’s home.
Bartlett ISD Superintendent Teddy Clevenger announced in February 2025 that an unnamed teacher had been placed on leave over an alleged “improper student-teacher relationship” and was “no longer employed by the district.” It’s not clear whether he was fired or allowed to resign.
Clevenger said the allegations were reported to the Holland Police Department and state agencies as required by law. The Texas Education Agency received a complaint from the superintendent and opened an investigation into Knox on February 12, 2025, that is “pending.”
Investigators reportedly interviewed several current and former students who may have been targeted by Knox.
One former student admitted to sending “explicit pictures and videos” to Knox, according to an arrest affidavit. Knox’s phone allegedly contained more than 10 images of the student nude or performing sex acts, some possibly taken when the student was 16 years old.
Knox was arrested and booked into the Bell County Jail on January 22. Total bond is set at $200,000—$100,000 for each charge.
Bartlett ISD is a one-school district with fewer than 400 students.
Online records show Knox had worked for Bartlett ISD since 2023 and previously taught in Rosebud-Lott ISD.
Knox has held a Texas teaching certificate for Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources since July 2021.
He is the second Bartlett ISD teacher in two years arrested for sexual misconduct. In January 2025, around the same time Knox was accused, Bartlett ISD teacher and football coach Charles Poling was charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student.
In just the past few years, hundreds of Texas teachers have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children.
Thousands have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct. In most cases the agency does not open an investigation; when it does, the investigation is put on hold until any criminal prosecutions are concluded.
