4 minors on witness list of ex- teacher in sex crimes trial

Four minors are listed among the 11 potential witnesses for a former Miamisburg teacher at her trial set to begin Tuesday on sex charges involving a middle school student.

Nine of the witnesses Jessica Langford’s attorney includes in court documents are also on the state’s list of 33 people it may call to testify, records show, in a case the judge said will have an increased number of potential jurors.

Langford, 32, of Centerville was indicted in November on three counts of sexual battery and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, whom Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. described as a 14-year-old boy.

The following week, the former Miamisburg Middle School teacher who spent nearly nine years with the district pleaded not guilty to all charges. The state said during a four-minute court appearance by Langford last week that “there has not been any plea offers made” on its part.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy O’Connell said last week that he will grant the prosecution’s request for an “additional pool of prospective jurors.”

O’Connell said he met with both sides before last week’s hearing to discuss issues such as “witnesses, exhibits, evidentiary issues, the possibility of stipulations, and the offers and proposals (and) length of trial.” But he did not indicate in court how long the trial is expected to last.

Among those listed as defense witnesses are four minors identified in court documents by initials only. Two of those minors are also on the prosecution’s witness list.

Langford is accused of having oral sex and intercourse with a student at the school in Miami Twp., according to court documents filed in December.

Those documents state she twice performed oral sex, twice received oral sex, and twice had intercourse with the teen “on or about May 23” of 2017.

That date, during the last week of classes for the school year, is one day before school district officials said she resigned. The resignation, according to the district, came after Langford was confronted with allegations involving inappropriate conduct with a student and placed on administrative leave.

The Miami Twp. Police Department investigated the issue. No charges were filed in the case until November.

Langford was hired as a student teacher in the Miamisburg district in 2006 and served in a similar capacity in Dayton Public Schools, records show.

Miamisburg City Schools records obtained by this news organization show Langford had a solid tenure of nearly nine years in the district. She was hired full time in August 2008, serving at three schools while receiving good evaluations, records show.

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About the Author

Nick Blizzard

Nick Blizzard is a staff writer for the Dayton Daily News. He is a graduate of Stebbins High School who earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and its E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Nick is a Riverside native and has been a journalist in the Dayton area for more than 20 years.