Evans Baird jail intake photo.
A man that served as band director for 30 years at Westwood Junior High, now Westwood Middle School, in Manchester was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery against a 12-year-old. That is a Class B felony in the state of Tennessee.
Baird was also the chorus director at the school and was the director of various events in Manchester before his retirement. He was indicted in Coffee County Court on Wednesday, Nov. 28.
Now the DA’s office has made a request in the order that Baird be held in custody without bail until the disposition in this matter.
According to the motion, on December 9, 2018, Baird was found to be present at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Tullahoma where one of his alleged minor victims was present. Further, the State says that Baird knew or should have known that one or more of his victims would be present at the church as they are regular attendees. Coffee County District Attorney’s says the man was confronted by church security, he refused to exit the sanctuary to speak with Tullahoma Police officers, who had been called to deal with the situation. Tullahoma officers were forced to enter the sanctuary to confront Baird about being in the presence of children in the worship service.
The DA’s office goes onto to state that the presence in the sanctuary during service, especially when Baird allegedly knew one or more of the victims were present, violated the “no contact with anyone under the age of 18” condition set in Coffee County court on November 29, 2018.
The motion also states that his presence caused substantial emotional distress to one of his victims present in the service without his parents. The DA’s office also claims the defendant further worsened the situation by refusing to leave the worship hall when asked by church security members.
The motion goes further to state that the minor victims in this matter must be protected from the blatant manipulation and intimidation by Baird.
In a separate incident on the same date, December 9, 2018, Baird attempted to contact one of the victims’ mother and she reported the incident to Manchester Police.
