An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Geary coach.
According to a probable cause affidavit from Caddo County, Hinton High School coach Jacob Peck is suspected of child abuse. The affidavit was filed by a Hinton police officer who took a statement from a wrestling team member and her parents. It details incidents when the student says the coach grabbed her around the throat in a choke hold after practice one day in late November or early December.
The student reported the incident was after most of the other athletes had left the facility.
Two other students backed up the accusations but declined to press charges. One said Peck would approach her from behind in computer lab and put his hands around her throat in spite of her shrugging in an attempt to keep him from doing so. She also said he approached her in the parking lot when she was completing chalk art for Drug Free Week and attempted to choke her. She screamed at him, the affidavit reads, telling him it was it was “ f****g weird.” When the coach made light of the incident, the student told him again it was “f*****g weird, dude.”
The second student to speak with police in support of the affidavit said she was standing near Peck’s desk in the classroom when he grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt and her thigh along with it. She told Peck not to touch her and that he could have grabbed the sweatshirt without touching her thigh.
The officer who wrote the probable cause affidavit includes his belief that the victims, witnesses and possibly Peck made voluntary statements to the school. However, the report continues, the school has refused to cooperate without a subpoena or search warrant. Without the information contained in those statements, the police department was hesitant to interview Peck before the probable cause affidavit yielded a judge’s decision to issue an arrest warrant. That warrant was issued March 10.
There has been no indication that Peck was suspected of inappropriate behavior with his students when he was a coach at Geary, but Peck later wed a Geary student. He and Lea Anselma Leyva-Chacon were issued a marriage license in October 2019 in Greer County. She was a 2018 graduate of Geary High School. Peck was at Geary from at least 2015 through 2017, although he could have been teaching in Blaine County prior to 2015.
Geary Superintendent Sean Buchanan was not in that position when Peck was at the school. He did indicate the school policy has been updated as of last year. Teachers, he said, have to sign a compliance for educator standards and that is part of the accreditation process. There are accreditation officers who keep tabs on the paperwork.
Additionally, Buchanan said he hopes any student who feels a teacher has crossed the line would contact their principal right away. The principal would then contact parents or guardians, law enforcement and his office.
“There is no way we are ok with this happing to these kids. There is zero tolerance,” he said. He also noted that he has two children of his own in the Geary Schools.
Jacob Peck was employed in Mangum from 2018-20 as a junior high football coach, coached junior high and high school wrestling and taught sign language, according to the school’s web page. When he left Mangum, he was picked up by Hinton Schools.
An arrest warrant for Peck was issued by Caddo County March 10. However, the detention center has no record of him having been in custody in the past 30 days.