Jennifer Crumbley's Swinger Lifestyle Was Used by Prosecutors to Show Her Negligence as a Parent

In what undoubtedly could become a precedent for any future cases involving a student-led school shooting, the mother of a convicted school shooter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. In February 2024, Jennifer Crumbley sat stone-faced in a courtroom while the jury's verdict was read aloud. Her son, Ethan Crumbley, shot 12 students at Oxford High School in November 2021, killing four of them. His trial also ended in a conviction.

In an effort to show the jury that Jennifer was a negligent parent, prosecutors painted a picture of a mother who was so preoccupied she ignored the disturbing behavior of her son. Of all the revelations during her trial, none were more bizarre than the discovery that Jennifer Crumbley was a swinger. Here's what we know about her lifestyle choice.

According to ABC News, "prosecutors revealed that Crumbley used an app, Adult Friend Finder, to arrange "meet-ups" just days before the shooting." Adult Friend Finder was launched in 1995 by Andrew Conru who "turned the site into a swinger-friendly empire that’s discreetly mainstream — boasting over 30 million members who pay $10 a month to find 'sex hookups, online sex friends or hot f--- friends,'" per Rolling Stone.

Crumbley and Brian Meloche, the man she was having an affair with, regularly met at a hotel where they hosted swingers parties. Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast focoused on these meetups because Crumbley previously testified she had "one extramarital affair for a six-month period of time where she met with him [Meloche] one time a week." Keast then asked if Crumbley and Meloche were in fact setting up dates with other individuals at said hotel.

"I only met with Brian during work hours," said Crumbley in response to Keast's question. "The times we were at the hotel, I was on business. We did arrange for other people to meet us there." The day of the shooting, Crumbley was on Adult Friend Finder attempting to organize another meeting but did not end up finding people to engage with her.

Crumbley described herself as a "helicopter parent" who was deeply involved in her son's life, said the Detroit Free Press. Keaster disagreed and poked holes in this idea using Crumbley's many hobbies as proof. For example, she frequently went horseback riding and never took her son because in her words he "didn't like horses." When asked if she spent more than $20,000 a year on horses, Crumbley simply said probably.

On Saturdays Crumbley worked double shifts as a a volunteer ski patrol member and claimed she did this so that Ethan and her husband could ski for free. Eric Kimminau worked with Crumbley at Pine Knob and told the Detroit Free Press that she would often discuss her son being bullied, stating he would frequently come home from school crying. "We have no record on any level of any allegation of bullying against the alleged shooter," said the school district. Crumbley knew about her son's troubles, but seemingly did nothing about them.

Text messages between Crumbley and Ethan were put on full display during her trial. "The word 'love' only appeared three times over the course of several years," via the New York Post. Ethan also complained about his parents's apathy in the journal that was found at the school after the shooting. "My parents won’t listen to me about help or [a] therapist," he wrote. "I have zero help for my mental problems, and it’s causing me to shoot up the f------ school."