KATY, Texas A Katy ISD teacher is in jail on two charges of sexual assault of a child.
Jason Lont, 35, met the 15-year-old boy on an app called Grinder, according to court documents.
The boy s mother became suspicious back in December when she checked her son s cell phone to make sure he was obeying her orders not to use it.
She discovered sexually explicit text messages from a man named Jason Chesse, according to court documents. The man had also texted his address and photo.
The mother questioned her son who admitted the man picked him up twice and drove him to his home on River Knoll Lane where they had sex.
The mother began by checking public databases and HCAD records on the Internet. She discovered the home on River Knoll Lane and the cell phone used to text her son belonged to Jason Lont.
The woman called the Harris County Sheriff s Office and they launched their own investigation.
Deputies questioned the teen, who saidhe met Lont on Grinder, an app that caters to gay, bisexual and bi-curious males, according to court records. They began chatting and texting before agreeing to meet in person.
The victim told Lont he was 16, according to investigators. He is not a Katy ISD student, according to a statement from the district.
Katy ISD put Lont on administrative leave on Jan. 12 after learning about the investigation. The district said he s been a theater teacher at Katy High Schoolsince 2005.
Reaction among students there was mixed.
He should not be allowed in school. Someone who would do something like that should be locked up, said Stephanie Roesner, a senior. It makes the other students afraid.
I ve had multiple conversations with him this year and last year. He was a good man. His heart was in the right place, said Zach Zakkhart, a student. I don t believe a word of it.
Obviously, I don t know. Mr. Lont was always kind of a different teacher, but I don t think he would go that far to do that, said La tori Curry, a senior.
Lont is being held on a $30,000 bond.
