SPRINGVILLE, Utah — In a case of mistaken identity, a Springville High School teacher finds himself under attack for an alleged assault at a West Valley City concert that he had nothing to do with.
For Jacob Shelley, an agriculture and animal sciences teacher, the past several days have been anything but ordinary.
"I don’t know all the details, but I've been getting threats and stuff like that, because I am Jacob Shelley," he shared Thursday.
For the record, Shelley is 30 years old and his middle name is Austin. But it turns out, a similarly named man, Jacob David Shelley, was arrested on aggravated child abuse charges on Saturday after police claimed he punched a 17-year-old girl until she was unconscious at a concert at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre.
Since then, people have confused the two Shelleys, with the teacher Shelley receiving alarming feedback via e-mail and social media.
"They're like, they want to put their hands on me and hurt me," the teacher said. "Like, what happened with that girl, and that my family and I shouldn't be even here on Earth, basically."
Teenage victim speaks after alleged assault at West Valley City concert:
Besides his family, teacher Shelley is concerned about the safety of his students and colleagues.
"People know we're at work, like, what could happen if they come here?" he wondered. "And what could happen with this goal? It's just a scary situation. It's been, honestly, I haven't been able to sleep at night because of this."
The Nebo School District has also received messages from those concerned it is employing someone accused of assaulting a teenager.
"I would just hope that as people engage in social media and conversations, that before they start accusing people and reaching out and making accusations and derogatory comments, that they would do a little bit of research first. And that's in any case, not just this situation, but hopefully in all cases," said district spokesperson Seth Sorensen.
While it's comforting for Shelley that he has the complete backing of his school district, he can’t put all the confusion behind him soon enough.
"Yeah, so my thing is, why I want to do this is to let people know that it wasn't me."
