Teacher Charged With Criminal Sexual Assault/Supervisory, Held Without Bail In Edgar County Jail –

Edgar County, Ill. (ECWd) –

Michael Lowery, a former Kansas, Illinois teacher and current Martinsville, Illinois teacher was arrested in Edgar County yesterday and held in the Edgar County Jail.

According to Judici, today the Court found probable cause for the charges of three counts of Criminal Sexual Assault/Supervisory, Victim between 13 and 17 years of age. All are Class 1 felonies.

The Court also denied bail stating that “no conditions or combination of conditions can mitigate the real and present threat to a specific person and community” – he was ordered detained and remanded to the custody of the Sheriff.

Next hearing is scheduled for April 21, 2025.

Lowery is a former teacher at the Kansas, Ill. School District and a current teacher at the Martinsville School District.

The Kansas, Illinois Police Department published a statement on its Facebook page. (HERE)

The Martinsville School District Superintendent provided a statement to us and the parents of the school district:

Dear Martinville families,

I am writing to share some difficult news that is concerning to our school community. We learned today that Michael Lowery was arraigned on criminal charges related to “criminal sexual assault/authority”. Law Enforcement has shared that, at this time, there is no information suggesting that any current or former Martinsville students or other staff members are involved in this matter.

We have no reason to suspect that any student or staff member in the district has been in any danger at any time. Our district is cooperating with Law Enforcement in its investigation into the allegations. If you have specific information that may be relevant to the ongoing Law Enforcement investigation of this matter, please contact Sheriff Bill Brown at 217-826-6393.

The District will monitor ongoing developments regarding this matter and review information shared by Law Enforcement throughout their ongoing investigation ensuring our district continues to make decisions in the best interest of our students.

The safety and security of our students is paramount, and the appropriateness of the educational environment is crucial to our mission. We conduct fingerprint-based criminal background checks and cross-reference state and national sexual and violet offender registries as a part of our pre­employment process. All faculty and staff must comply with District policies on ethics and technology use and attend training regarding the parameters of appropriate conduct with minor students during and outside of the school day. All staff members are mandated reporters to the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and we provide annual training to all staff on this responsibility.

If your child has had regular contact with Mr. Lowery, I suggest that you discuss this matter with them directly, so they hear from you that he is gone from the classroom and under investigation. District counselors and counselors from Human Resources Center of Edgar and Clark counties (HRC) will be available in the Jr/Sr High School building to provide support to students and staff as needed.

If you have specific information or concerns about this matter, please contact me directly at 217- 382-4321 or you can email me at [email protected].

The District has no further information regarding the allegations and cannot comment further on the Law Enforcement proceedings.

Sincerely,
Robert Waggoner
Superintendent

The public is reminded that all people are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

More on WAND.

Edit: Kansas Police Department Statement (HERE).