An Illinois school board has been engulfed by a sensational scandal: One member is accused of posing as his wife’s ex-husband to catfish women on Tinder.
Jason Farrell has rebuffed the Moline-Coal Valley school board’s demands he resign, so they upped the ante—censuring him on Monday night with an eye toward having him tossed off the panel.
“We are not a court or jury, but the alleged conduct is just so deeply disturbing, and it has resulted in the district being cast in a terrible light,” board President Andrew Waeyaert said at the meeting.
“The board and administration have been inundated with inquiries, complaints, and FOIA requests about this matter, and it has monopolized all of our time,” he added. “This situation and its impact have taken away countless hours from our mission, which is to serve kids and families.”
The school board represents an area two hours from Chicago best known as the world headquarters of John Deere. Farrell, a 39-year-old father of four, was elected to the board overseeing a 7,302-student school system last April.
Farrell did not attend Monday’s meeting or return calls from The Daily Beast, but he previously denied the allegations leveled against him by veteran Mathew Harris.
“I have no intentions of resigning from my school board position. The allegations made against me are false,” Farrell said in a statement last week to several local news outlets. “I have not been charged with any crimes but instead tried solely through social media. My wife and I, with the advice of legal counsel, will explore all of the options we have to respond accordingly to such heinous accusations.”
Harris told The Daily Beast in a phone interview and text messages that he divorced the woman, who is now Farrell’s wife, about eight years ago and claims he has been a “terror to my life ever since.”
“I have been in a legitimate war, and this is still the craziest thing I’ve gone through in my life,” he said.
In a 17-minute video posted to YouTube in March, titled “Moline Coal Valley School Board Member Pretends to be Military Veteran on Tinder,” Harris said he first learned about a “Matt Harris” Tinder profile from a woman who messaged his current fiancee.
Unsure of who was using his identity, Harris asked the woman to continue messaging the profile—which included photos of him—and provide screenshots of the conversation.
“So when are we hooking up? I’d love to show you what I’m bringing and tell you what I’d do. But I need a response soon babe,” one message from that “Matt Harris” read, according to the real Harris.
Harris said Farrell sent the woman a selfie that revealed he was not the man in the photos before arriving at the date, which was partially recorded.
In the recording posted by Harris, which just showed the restaurant window because the woman was hiding her phone, an unidentified man is heard saying he was deployed to the Middle East after college and has no children. Harris says he served in Afghanistan, but Farrell did not.
At the end of the video, Harris can be seen walking into the restaurant while he calls out, “Jason Farrell, school board member.”
“He’s married, and he's very very poorly trying to tell stories of my life, playing them off as if they were his,” Harris said in the YouTube video after showing the restaurant recording.
Harris told The Daily Beast that a second woman sent him a screenshot of the profile taken on Oct. 6, 2023, which he says is the “oldest confirmed screenshot we have” of the false account.
“My lawyer is going to submit a request for discovery of all info on the account, but we’re definitely not anticipating that he’ll cooperate,” he added via text.
Harris has since applied for an order of protection against Farrell and was granted an emergency stalking no-contact order last month with a hearing set for April 11. Farrell has not been charged with any crime.
At Monday’s board meeting, Waeyaert said Farrell has “stated that the video and audio of him have been falsified.”
The formal resolution to censure was then passed, which allowed the seven-person board to request the regional superintendent of the Rock Island County Regional Office of Education remove Farrell from office.
“The board has attempted to give Mr. Farrell the opportunity to present any evidence in his defense,” the resolution says. “After receiving no such evidence and after due consideration of all the evidence available at this time, and in light of the urgency of this matter, the Board finds it necessary and desirable to take immediate action.”
