Catholic School Teacher Arrested On Child Sex Charges

The Quad City Times reports:

Cody LaKose faces a felony charge of sexual exploitation by a school employee and three aggravated misdemeanor charges of sexual exploitation by a school employee. LaKose, 37, was a science teacher and coach at Central DeWitt from August 2010 to December 2018. He was asked to resign, according to a separation agreement with the district.

DeWitt police opened an investigation March 2, 2022, after a former student reported to police that LaKose had groomed her and conducted a sexual relationship with her while she was a high school student, records show. His social media accounts indicate LaKose is employed at Regina Catholic Education Center in Iowa City.

Cedar Rapids’ ABC affiliate reports:

The investigation began with the victim’s report of sexual exploitation, which started in the spring of 2017 when she was a minor and Central Dewitt student. The exploitation included kissing, genital touching and sexual intercourse — all allegedly taking place inside LaKose’s school office. The report also says that LaKose had received naked pictures of her before she had turned 18, that he had asked for them and that he had instructed her to take the pictures in a variety of positions.

Later, in Oct. 2022, a Dewitt police officer attempted to arrange an interview with LaKose, which he turned down. After this incident, the victim reported that LaKose had sent her a text message asking her if she said anything about their relationship. The text came from the same phone number that LaKose had provided to the officer. She also provided a screenshot showing that she had received a photo of male genitals from the same number on June 3, showing a continuance of sexual communication.

LaKose has made his Twitter account private.