MONTICELLO, IN – An Indiana couple has filed a federal lawsuit against Twin Lakes School Corporation and their daughter’s teacher, 32-year-old Timothy Bulow. Their daughter, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, was in Bulow’s band class at Roosevelt Middle School and Twin Lakes High School from 2023 to 2025. After an investigation by the Department of Child Services and local police, Bulow was arrested in April 2025 and charged with three counts of felony sexual misconduct with a minor. On May 15th, 2026, Bulow and his attorney appeared in court, where he pled guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The parents’ lawsuit claims that Bulow had a history of texting female students, a fact which was well-known to band parents and school administrators. “Before he started grooming my client, he was giving multiple girls at the school his personal cell phone number and texting them,” said Tom Blessing, the family’s attorney. Blessing said that Bulow had been texting students for years, and it was common knowledge in the Twin Lakes community: “Students knew he was doing it. Teachers knew he was doing it. Other parents knew it. School administrators knew it. It had been going on for years, yet they allowed him to get away with it.” According to Blessing, school officials spoke with Bulow more than once about texting girls, but he continued doing it, warning students to be careful and giving them tips to avoid getting caught.
Blessing said that there were multiple institutional failures that led to his client being abused, and the lawsuit alleges that students at the high school were essentially left unsupervised for about the first hour or so of school in the morning. “Our investigation has uncovered a systemic breakdown on numerous levels within the Twin Lakes school district, which enabled this abuse. From hiring this teacher in the first place to gaps in school policies, inadequate training, lack of supervision, no communication with parents, and ignoring red flags, the Twin Lakes school district completely and utterly failed my clients. It really was a ‘perfect storm’ which allowed this to happen.” According to the lawsuit, when school officials finally reported Bulow to DCS for suspected sexual abuse of Jane Doe, they did not notify her parents the same day. It was not until the next day that DCS told the parents about the report, allowing him to abuse her one more time. Blessing said, “That fact alone illustrates the glaring deficiencies in school policies and a complete breakdown of its procedures. Just appalling.”
Blessing hopes this lawsuit will bring about institutional reforms in the district to prevent future abuse of students. “We want the people responsible—from the teacher to the highest leadership—to be held accountable. It’s time for some changes in the district’s personnel, hiring and training practices, staff oversight, and policies and procedures to put an end to this.” Blessing encourages anyone having information about Bulow to come forward: “If you saw something or heard something about this individual, we’d love to talk to you.”
The lawsuit requests a jury trial and seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Read the full article here: Former band teacher in Monticello pleads guilty to sexual misconduct with minor