23-year-old fake teacher who was ‘bored’ and 'hated kids' asked students if they were virgins or gay before police caught her

• A 23-year-old former student allegedly posed as a substitute teacher at Rufus King International High School in Milwaukee.

• Students said she asked them whether they were gay or virgins and made other inappropriate remarks.

• She reportedly told police she was bored, hated kids and wanted to “mess around.”

A 23-year-old woman reportedly walked into her former high school pretending to be a substitute teacher, taught two classes and made a series of racist, sexual and offensive remarks to students before staff discovered she was not a teacher.

Amy Jones, a former student of Rufus King International High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is facing six felony charges over the September 24 incident.

According to a criminal complaint reviewed by local media, Jones later told detectives she went to the school because she was bored and said she hated children and wanted to “mess around.”

Investigators said Jones had visited Rufus King about a week earlier and managed to get inside by blending in with students. During that visit, she asked a student how she could sneak into the school and was shown which door to use.

When she returned on September 24, Jones entered alongside students and passed through the school’s security screening.

Once inside, she heard employees in the main office discussing TalentBridge, the company used to provide substitute teachers to the school.

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Jones approached a secretary and claimed she was a substitute teacher from the agency. She then signed herself into the school as “Amy Jones sub".

Because several teachers were absent that day, the claim was not immediately challenged. The school’s principal, Doreen Badillo, told police that eight teachers had called in sick and seven substitute positions had been filled.

That left one classroom without a substitute and according to the complaint, Jones was placed in that opening.

She eventually entered a classroom with a real teacher, who spent about 20 minutes helping set up materials before leaving. Investigators say Jones’ behaviour changed once she was alone with the students.

Students later described a chaotic classroom. They told police that Jones swore at them, used racial slurs, made sexually inappropriate comments and separated students according to race and gender.

One 16-year-old student told investigators that Jones called another student “fat boy” and asked a female student whether she wanted to become a stripper or a prostitute.

Students also said Jones asked whether they were gay or virgins. At one point, she allegedly asked whether anyone had a vape or marijuana because the class was boring and annoying.

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The complaint also says Jones made comments about race and told two white male students they looked like the type of people who could become school shooters.

Some students began recording what was happening on their phones. Investigators later collected several videos from the classroom. The students eventually reported Jones to school staff.

By the time administrators realised something was wrong, Jones had already spent time with two classes. She was escorted from the school before the third class began.

Staff were able to identify her as a former Rufus King student, partly because she had left identifying documents behind.

Police later discovered that Jones was never a substitute teacher. She was not employed by Milwaukee Public Schools, was not working for the substitute-teacher agency and, according to investigators, had no training or experience as a teacher.

When detectives interviewed Jones on September 30, she admitted that she had impersonated a teacher. She also acknowledged speaking to students about sex, describing the conversation as a “birds and the bees” talk.

When detectives asked whether she believed that was appropriate, Jones admitted that it was not. She also told investigators that she thought the incident would make her “famous.”

According to the complaint, when a detective suggested she was more likely to become “infamous”, Jones became excited, snapping her fingers and dancing.

She then explained why she had gone to the school in the first place: she was bored, she hated kids and she wanted to mess around, according to investigators.

Jones was arrested five days after the incident at Granite Hills Hospital, a mental-health facility in West Allis.

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Her defence attorney, Michael Cerniglia, later told a court that Jones manages bipolar disorder and had experienced what he described as an acute manic episode after a delay in receiving her prescribed medication.

That claim came from her defence and has not been established as a finding by the court.

Jones appeared in Milwaukee County court on October 6. A commissioner found probable cause for the case to continue and set a $5,000 signature bond.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 20. She was ordered not to contact Rufus King International High School or students named in the criminal complaint and was placed under Level 3 supervision through JusticePoint.

Jones is charged with one count of impersonating a public employee and five counts of exposing a child to harmful descriptions. If convicted on all six counts, she could face a combined maximum sentence of 21 years in prison.

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The case has also raised questions about how Jones was able to get into the classroom in the first place.

Milwaukee Public Schools said its initial investigation found that Jones passed through the school’s daily security screening, but office staff did not follow the district’s required procedure for verifying substitute teachers.

Under the district’s system, substitute teachers are supposed to be listed in Frontline and assigned to the school to cover a specific teacher’s absence. Office staff are expected to verify both details before allowing a substitute to proceed.

The district said that did not happen in Jones’ case. MPS has said it is reviewing its safeguards, retraining employees and holding staff accountable, while also providing supportive measures for students who were in the affected classes.