Former West Plains coach charged with filming minor

Published 12:02 pm Thursday, November 5, 2026

By Kimberly Langston

A West Plains man and former West Plains High School assistant football coach has been charged with two misdemeanors after allegedly setting up a hidden pen camera to record a nude underage girl inside a bathroom at his residence.

Jarrod D. Girdley, 50, is charged with two counts of invasion of privacy involving a victim younger than 18. Under Missouri law, a Class A misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000 upon conviction.

Past Quill reporting indicates Girdley was hired by the West Plains R-7 School District in January 2024 as an assistant middle school football coach before transitioning to the high school program in 2025. He was an assistant coach with the high school team at the beginning of the fall 2026 season. Girdley’s employment with the district was terminated Sept. 12, an action formalized by the school board during its Oct. 12 meeting, according to official board minutes.

Superintendent Wes Davis told the Quill that neither the alleged incident nor any related conduct took place on district grounds or during school-sponsored activities, adding that the safety and security of all students and staff remains the district’s top priority.

According to online court records, public access to the case was suppressed until Oct. 27, when access was officially restored following Girdley’s arrest. A warrant with a $10,000 bond had been issued Oct. 21 following the filing of charges on Oct. 20. Howell County deputies served the warrant on Girdley on Oct. 26, and he posted bond the same day.

The charges stem from an investigation led by Lt. Torey Thompson of the Howell County Sheriff’s Office. According to Thompson’s probable cause statement submitted to county prosecutors, the victim reported on Sept. 19 that she was preparing to shower when Girdley instructed her to wait while he moved items inside the bathroom closet.

Suspicious, the girl closed the closet door. After showering, she examined the closet area where Girdley had been moving items and discovered an ink pen that appeared to have a camera lens, charging port and hidden SD card slot.

The victim took photo and video footage of the pen with her phone and sent an image to a friend to confirm whether it was a recording device before replacing the pen in the closet. Girdley remained at the home while the victim went to her mother’s workplace to report what had happened. When the mother and daughter returned after Girdley left the house, they found the device in the bathroom closet had been replaced with a regular ink pen.

The mother subsequently searched Girdley’s desk, where she discovered the pen camera, a card reader and multiple SD cards, which were turned in to the sheriff’s office as evidence.

Deputies obtained a search warrant for the digital media. Although the SD card had been erased, a forensic data recovery examination retrieved its previous contents, revealing two video recordings from July depicting the underage victim nude.

“It’s incomprehensible the defendant’s above listed actions don’t constitute a more serious offense however such is the state of Missouri State law,” Thompson wrote in the probable cause statement, detailing why he considered Girdley a danger to the community. “The allegations appear to involve predatory like sexual behavior directed at an underage child. Based on my experience with such behavior(s) they often escalate to include hands on child sex crimes, and the possession of and sometimes the transmission of child sexual abuse material as defined by Missouri State law. Because of these reasons I believe the defendant is a danger to vulnerable members of the community.”

Thompson added that the victim may face ongoing risk: “Although this is a misdemeanor charge as of now, it could easily escalate to serious felony charges as the investigation continues. For this reason, I believe the defendant could be a danger to the crime victim.”

Girdley is scheduled for an initial appearance on Nov. 16 before Associate 37th Circuit Judge R. David Ray.

As of Thursday, court records did not list an attorney of record for Girdley. The state is represented by Howell County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Hutchings and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Rizwan Ahad.