Former Greencastle superintendent cleared of indecency charges

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

By JAMIE BARRAND, Editor

A jury recently found a former Greencastle Community School Corp. superintendent innocent of public indecency and nudity in a public park.

John R. Coomer, 69, was acquitted in Johnson County Circuit Court of the two Class A misdemeanor charges.

Coomer was arrested in Greenwood in October 2007. According to court documents, he exposed and then fondled himself in the presence of an undercover Greenwood police officer in the bathroom of a public park.

Police were conducting a sex sting in the park, and Coomer was arrested in a sweep there.

Coomer was offered plea agreements, but chose to go to trial. The jury took less than a day to return a not guilty verdict on both counts.

"In the months that followed (my arrest), I had opportunities to enter into plea agreements, but each of them had an element of admission of guilt," Coomer said. "I refused to admit guilt to anything I did not do. Rather, I insisted on a trial by jury."

Coomer said his arrest was "trumped up" and made "by a very questionable Greenwood policeman who was willing to lie to make an arrest."

Coomer now resides in Greenwood. In addition to Greencastle, he has worked in administration at the Monroe County School Corp. as well as at schools in Crawfordsville and Tipton.

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I read this story on an Indy TV channel web site two weeks ago. Even in the electronic age where TV, radio or internet might get a story a little before a local paper does, isn't that an awfully long lapse?

The name struck me because I was a GHS student in the late 60's, early 70's and remembered the man as both the asst. principal and principal of GHS. Of course, I was just a kid back then, but I was not impressed.

-- Posted by countyboy on Wed, Mar 25, 2009, at 8:30 AM
I am getting really tired of reading people's names and things they are accused of. Do I really need to know all the details? If we have to drop names, are you going to drop the name of the questionable police officer too? Oh, no! We only want to make a bad reputation of the regular citizens.

-- Posted by guesswhonow on Thu, Mar 26, 2009, at 6:38 AM
I am glad to hear that Dr. Coomer was acquitted; he was a good asst. Principal and Principal at GHS. It saddens me to know that even a man like him isn't safe from lying, power-abusing policemen whose minds are made up about guilt and innocence prior to the finding of fact.

-- Posted by chp on Fri, Mar 27, 2009, at 11:15 AM
Just another day in Peyton Place or Stepford, take your pick.

-- Posted by Harmony Church on Sat, Mar 28, 2009, at 6:58 AM
why are my post stopped?

-- Posted by TruthAndTell on Thu, Apr 30, 2009, at 9:53 AM

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