A former teacher at Concord High School who admitted to having child pornography and groping multiple students in class during a bizarre episode will not spend any time in prison.
Elkhart County prosecutors on Monday called Andrew Cowells a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who likened himself as a cool teacher, but in fact was grooming students. On Monday, Judge Teresa Cataldo sentenced Cowells to nine years of community corrections and six years of probation.
In September, Cowells took a plea deal where he admitted to 10 counts of child pornography and three counts of child solicitation. The charges stem from an incident in May of 2021 where Cowells started telling sexual jokes and taunting students to let him touch them.
Cowells was fired soon after, but he will spend no time in jail. The sentencing order will register as a sex offender and undergo mental health treatment. He was also ordered to have no contact with any of the victims in the case and will be sent to prison if he violates the terms imposed.
In a written statement from Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker said “Cowells is not a person the State believes should be in a position of trust with our children, and wanted to ensure that the felony convictions would follow him to protect public safety.”
Cowells at one point explored a legal insanity plea, but as a condition of his plea deal, he waived that provision.
Concord officials have previously stated the victims of child pornography found on Cowells' phone were not of children from Michiana.
