Michael W. Smith
12-17-08

A Pemiscot County man has been sentenced to federal prison for 24 years on a felony child pornography charge.

Michael W. Smith, 52, of Steele, Missouri, was sentenced to 293 months imprisonment on one felony count of Production of Child Pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway.

Upon release from prison, Smith will be placed on supervised release for the remainder of his life.

Smith appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Rodney W. Sippel December 16 in Cape Girardeau.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. Hanaway said, "Protecting children from sexual exploitation is the central goal of Project Safe Childhood. Sadly, this case demonstrates that child predators can be people in positions of authority. Smith was a teacher's aide at the victim's school. This 24 year sentence supports that abuse of the trust innocent children afford to their teachers and production of child pornography will simply not be tolerated."

In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), the program marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, with an emphasis on exploitation via the internet.

Teacher's aide sentenced to prison for child porn (12-17-08)

Joshua Long
12-05-08

A former high-school basketball coach was bound over for trial Thursday on additional counts alleging he had sexual relations in June with a 16-year-old girl from Webb City.

The girl was the lone witness to testify at a preliminary hearing for Joshua Joseph Long, 30, of Oronogo, in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin.

At the conclusion of her testimony, Associate Judge Richard Copeland found probable cause for Long to stand trial on two additional counts of second-degree statutory rape and ordered the defendant to make an initial appearance Dec. 15 in a trial division of the court.

Long was ordered at a hearing on Oct. 30 to stand trial on a third count of second-degree statutory rape involving the same girl. Long now is accused of having sex with the girl on three occasions at his home. Copeland overruled a motion by Long’s attorney, Andy Woody, of Springfield, to have the two additional counts dismissed.

Long had been hired to be the girls basketball coach this year at East Newton High School at Granby. He was forced to resign when the allegations arose this summer, and he was charged Aug. 1. Authorities at the time said Long previously had been employed as a coach for the McDonald County and Carl Junction school districts.

Former coach bound over on additional sex charges (12/05/08)
Ex-coach to stand trial in statutory-rape case (10/30/08)
Former coach faces more counts of statutory rape (08/22/08)
Ex-coach faces two more charges (08/21/08)
Coach quits after rape charge (08/05/08)
Coach, charged with rape, resigns (08/04/08)
Probable Cause Affidavit and Charges

Baxter Harris
11-17-08

A Hancock Place High School teacher has been charged with several counts of sexual misconduct with female students.

Baxter Harris, 30, a business teacher at the school, was charged Monday with two counts of sexual contact with a student on public school property and four counts of furnishing pornographic material to a minor.

Harris was fired Monday by the board of education, which met in a special session. the board also has asked the state Board of Education to revoke Harris’ teaching certificate.

Harris was taken into custody Friday by St. Louis County Police, but released pending application of arrest warrants, St. Louis County Police spokeswoman Tracy Panus said.

Warrants were approved Monday and Harris was expected to turn himself in today, Panus said.

The incidents began in March 2008 and ended in September, Panus said.

Hancock teacher charged with sexual misconduct (11/11/08)
Hancock Place Teacher Now Charged on Sex Counts (11/11/08)

John Edward Enness
11-16-08

A federal judge has sentenced a retired teacher to 25 years in prison without parole for secretly videotaping boys and producing child pornography.

The sentence ordered Friday for 69-year-old John Edward Enness of Independence also requires him to forfeit his home and his computer equipment.

Enness formerly taught elementary school in the Kansas City district. He pled guilty to the charges in May of this year.

Federal prosecutors said Enness admitted using a motion-sensing camera, hidden inside an alarm clock, to videotape four boys, ages 12 to 14, at his house in Independence. The boys watched adult pornography on a computer that was located in the bedroom.

The movie files and images depicting child pornography were discovered when Enness took his computer to a Best Buy store for service in July 2006.

Retired teacher sentenced in child porn case (11/11/08)

Laura Kirkland
10-06-08

A former Springfield day-care worker and teacher accused of sexually abusing a now-11-year-old boy pleaded not guilty in her first appearance in Greene County Circuit Court today.

Laura Kirkland, 25, is charged with one count of first-degree statutory rape and two counts of first-degree sodomy in incidents that allegedly took place between July 2006 and July 2008.

Prosecutors say Kirkland had sexual intercourse and oral sex with the boy repeatedly over that two-year period.

The incidents allegedly took place at Kirkland’s home, located on West Lee Street, while she baby-sat the victim.

Police say the woman admitted to performing oral sex on the minor three times, and having sex with him twice.

Kirkland was previously employed by Nurturing Place in Springfield, and as a fifth-grade teacher for Christian Schools of Springfield.

Judge allows lower bond in sex case (10/04/08)
Woman charged with sexually abusing boy she baby-sat (09/05/08)
Woman faces charges of having sex with boy (07/25/08)
Day-care worker accused of raping boy (07/25/08)
Woman Charged with Statutory Rape (07/24/08)
Babysitter is accused of having sex with 10-year-old boy (07/23/08)

Robert Griffith Jr.
09-22-08

Robert (Bob) Griffith Jr., 55, a former school bus driver in the Doniphan School District, in Doniphan, Missouri has been found guilty on one count of child molestation in a jury trial which concluded with the jury’s verdicts on Saturday.

The jury found Griffith not guilty on one count of child molestation and two counts of statutory sodomy.

Griffith was was accused in late 2006 and early 2007 of molesting two boys and two girls during his afternoon prekindergarten bus route.

Last year, a judge allowed charges to go forward alleging the sexual abuse of three of those children. Prosecutors decided to go to trial on two charges each of statutory sodomy and child molestation alleging then a 4-year-old girl and a 5-year-old girl victims.

During the course of jury deliberations the jury twice asked the judge to let them declare a hung jury and twice they were refused, eventually returning the single guilty verdict and recommending a five year prison sentence in what may have been a compromise between jurors.

Formal sentencing is set for October 20, until that time Griffith remains free on $100,000 bond.

Former Doniphan, Mo., school bus driver found guilty of child molestation (09/22/08)

Cathy Heminghaus
09-03-08

A judge sentenced former teacher Cathy Heminghaus to six years in prison this morning for performing sex acts on teenage students at Ferguson Middle School in the fall of 2005.

St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael T. Jamison, who presided over the nine-day trial in June and July, imposed the sentence on Heminghaus, 48, of Ferguson.
 
The jury convicted Heminghaus of three counts of statutory sodomy, two counts of a teacher having sex with a student and two misdemeanor counts of plying minors with alcohol. It acquitted her of 18 counts.
 
At the punishment phase of the trial, jurors had heard testimony from the father of one of the boys and from the principal at Ferguson Middle School at 701 January Avenue. The nine men and three women also heard testimony from the defendant's father and two sisters.
 
The jury recommended sentences of two years on each felony count. It was up to Jamison to decide if the counts were to be run consecutively for a total of 10 years in prison, or concurrently for a maxium of two , or somewhere in between.

Former teacher gets 6 years for sex acts (09/03/08)
Ex-teacher gets 6 years for sex acts (09/03/08)
Jury recommends prison for teacher in sex case (07/04/08)
Ex-teacher convicted of sex acts on students (07/03/08)
Teacher testifies in her trial (07/02/08)
Daughter among witnesses for teacher accused of sex acts with students (07/01/08)
Special school district teacher withdraws plea (11/16/07)
Judge delays sex case hearing
Ex-teacher pleads no contest to sex charges (7/10/07)
No contest plea in teacher sex case (7/09/07)
Special School District Teacher Charged With Sexually Assaulting Students
Ferguson teacher charged with sodomy

Robert Wilson
08-08-08

A criminal sexual-abuse charge against a former Washington Local Schools elementary teacher was dismissed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court yesterday, but Robert Wilson will not return to the classroom.

Former west plains teacher indicted for child pornography (08/18/08)
Former Teacher Indicted (08/18/08)
Former teacher indicted for child porn (08/18/08)
Ex-Washington Local teacher won't face trial in sex abuse case (08/08/08)

Russell Hough
08-06-08

A popular high school girls softball and basketball coach faces felony sexual misconduct charges following a grand jury indictment. Warrensburg High School coach Russell Hough is accused of sexual contact with two female students, ages 15 and 16, on school property. A Johnson County grand jury issued an indictment on Friday.

School district superintendent Deborah Orr told the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal that Hough will be placed on administrative leave with pay. Hough faced similar accusations of inappropriate physical contact in 2004. When more complaints were lodged in 2006, the school system placed him on administrative leave with pay the next year.

Warrensburg Coach Faces Sex Abuse Charges (08/05/08)
State wants to reopen case into abuse allegations (03/19/08)
Teacher abuse claims divide small Missouri town (01/18/08)

Lee Rucker
07-30-08

A northwest Missouri physical education teacher and coach has been accused of child molestation. Atchison County authorities said Lee Rucker, of Tarkio, was arrested Sunday and charged with first-degree child molestation and sexual misconduct involving a child less than 14, both felonies. He was also charged with furnishing pornographic material to a minor, a misdemeanor.

Rucker teaches physical education in the Tarkio R-1 School District, serves as athletic director and coaches girls' and boys' basketball at the middle school and high school levels.

Tarkio coach faces misconduct allegations (07/29/08)

Amanda Miner
06-03-08

A former eastern Missouri substitute teacher is no longer facing sex charges. Jefferson County prosecutors yesterday dropped statutory sodomy and statutory rape charges against 28-year-old Amanda Miner of House Springs. She has been free on bond since soon after her arrest in November.

Miner was originally accused of molesting a 16-year-old boy. Miner is a former substitute teacher at Northwest Valley Middle School. The victim allegedly told another teacher about the relationship. The school district then contacted authorities. Miner was removed from the substitute teacher list. Prosecutors say there was a contradiction in testimony from a witness prior to yesterday's scheduled preliminary hearing.

Molestation Charges Dropped (06/03/08)
Substitute Teacher Charged With Statutory Sodomy, Rape (11/19/07)

Joshua D. Dehne
04-24-08

An eighth grade teacher has been arrested and charged with attempted enticement of a child after he allegedly solicited sex from a minor.

According to Captain Scott Will, a Maryland Heights Police Department spokesman, Joshua D. Dehne was arrested Tuesday night in connection with an online predator investigation.

Will said Dehne was in contact with an undercover officer, whom he thought to be a 14-year-old girl, and asked to meet her for the purposes of having sex. Dehne was then arrested when he arrived at their agreed meeting place.

Investigators learned that Dehne, 25, is a teacher at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School. However, Will said there's been no indication that any children at the school were victimized.

St. Charles teacher accused of soliciting minor online (04/24/08)
St. Charles Borromeo teacher arrested (04/23/08)

John Bender
04-22-08

A St. Louis teacher has been charged with having inappropriate sexual contact with a 10-year-old student.

Veteran teacher John Bender has been suspended with pay; so has Gateway Elementary School principal Richard Sirna. Bender was charged with sexually assaulting the female student in a classroom closet last September. Though Bender was suspended with pay last year, district school officials said that his status could soon change, but did not elaborate.

Principal Richard Sirna faces misdemeanor charges for failing to report the alleged incident to state officials.

Gateway School Teacher Charged with Sex Crime (04/22/08)
Elementary School Teacher Faces Molestation Charge (04/21/08)
Teacher, bus driver face sex charges (04/21/08)

Eugene Hargrove
04-15-08

A St. Louis Public Schools teacher and a bus driver for the district are facing sexual assault charges in connection with separate incidents involving underage students.

City prosecutors charged Eugene Hargrove, driver for Durham Bus Services, with child kidnapping, third degree assault and third degree sexual misconduct.

According to a complaint, a 13-year-old accused Hargrove of first blocking the girl’s exit from a school bus on the 2500 block of Parnell Street.

The complaint alleges that Hargrove then asked the student to "engage in sexual activity" and, in the process, groped the accuser’s buttocks.

Teacher, bus driver face sex charges (04/21/08)

Teresa Engelbach
04-22-08

Teresa Engelbach, 22, was sentenced today to pay a $5,000 fine and two years of probation after pleading guilty to having a sexual relationship with a student.

Police said the victim was a 14-year-old boy from the Dunklin School District where she had been a substitute teacher. The victim was friends with Englebach's younger brother. Police do not believe any other victims were involved and none of the incidents took place on school property. Engelbach of Pevely has not taught in the school district since she was charged in March 2007. The crimes took place between February and March 2007.

Engelbach pled guilty Feb. 28 to one felony count of second degree statutory rape and one count of misdemeanor sexual misconduct.

Teacher gets probation in sex case (04/15/08)
Former teacher pleads guilty of sex with student (3/05/08)
Substitute teacher admits having sex with 14-year-old student (3/05/08)
Teacher turns down plea deal in sex case (11/26/07)
Charges filed against teacher accused of having sexual relationship with student (3/17/07)
Dunklin teacher accused of having sex with student (3/17/07)
Prosecutors File Rape Charges Against Jefferson County Teacher (3/17/07)
Teacher accused of having sex with student free on bond (3/21/07)
Teacher Pleads Not Guilty To Sexually Abusing Teen (10/18/07)

Gary Rademacher
04-02-08

Former Springfield educator Gary Rademacher will spend five years on probation for possessing child pornography. Rademacher pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possessing child pornography in a Greene County court Wednesday. Police found more than 1,300 images of child pornography on Rademacher's computer.

Police were notified by a computer repair company when Rademacher took it to them to fix. Rademacher had retired from the Springfield school district prior to his arrest.

Prosecutors said they think the punishment was appropriate because they had determined none of the children depicted in the images were from the area.

Ex-teacher won’t go to prison for child porn (04/03/08)
Former Educator gets Probation for Child Porn (4/02/08)
Former teacher and principal gets probation for child pornography (4/02/08)
Child porn court appearance delayed