Wethersfield Principal/West Hartford Resident Accused of Taking Secret Photos of Kids at Wal-Mart Resigns

WETHERSFIELD, CT — The Wethersfield elementary school principal accused of trying to take secret pictures of children at a Hartford Wal-Mart shortly after the current school year began has resigned, education system officials said.

The resignation follows an application for a special form of probation submitted to the court several weeks ago.

John Bean, 46, of West Hartford, the principal at Wethersfield's Highcrest Elementary School, was placed on administrative leave shortly after his Sept. 24 arrest, school officials said. Highcrest serves students in kindergarten through Grade 6, according to the school system's Web site.

Wethersfield Superintendent of Schools Michael Emmett confirmed the resignation of Bean Thursday morning, following an e-mail to parents sent Wednesday.

Emmett said Maresa Harvey will remain on as interim principal at Highcrest for the remainder of the 2016-17 school year as the district begins the search process for a permanent replacement.

"Our expectation is that we'll have the position filled on a permanent basis on on July 1, 2017, Emmett said.

Wethersfield Board of Education Chairwoman Bobbie Hughes Granato said all comment is being directed through Emmett.

According to a Hartford police report, Bean was arrested at 1:05 p.m. on Sept. 24, at 495 Flatbush Ave., the address of the area Wal-Mart.

He was charged with interfering and second-degree breach of peace, police said.

According to a police report, an uniformed officer assigned to the Wal-Mart was called into the store by security staffers because they had been watching a man, later identified as Bean, walking through several aisles.

Bean had no cart and appeared not to be shopping, but following children with his phone camera and then taking pictures of them when their mothers traveled out of the photo frames, police said in the report.

He was concealing his phone with a toy package, according to the report.

Bean was then arrested based partly on the store security camera evidence, according to the report. Hr became agitated when approached by an police officer at the store, according to a police report.

The special probation is called accelerated rehabilitation and, if granted, Bean's record could eventually be wiped clean if he adheres to special conditions.

In September 2004, Bean was named teacher of the year in South Windsor. At the time, he was a social studies teacher at Timothy Edwards Middle School.

South Windsor Deputy Police Chief Scott Custer said no complaints were ever filed against Bean in a records search dating back to 2003.

Photo Credit: Hartford police