Kansas superintendent and principal are charged with failing to report sexual abuse

Two local school officials are facing charges of failing to report sexual abuse of a student by a teacher in Linn County, Kan.

Chris Kleidosty, the superintendent of the Tonganoxie Unified School District, and Tim Weis, principal at Prairie View High School in La Cygne, Kan., were charged Tuesday, KSHB reported.

Kleidosty was arrested Tuesday by the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office after a warrant was issued by Linn County.

The incident that led to the charges reportedly occurred years ago, when Kleidosty still worked in the Prairie View district. A teacher at Prairie View High School, Keaton Krell, allegedly engaged in sexual relations with a student. Krell was arrested last May.

According to court documents, Kleidosty and Weis allegedly knew about the incident but did not report it to authorities.

Kleidosty later became the superintendent at Tonganoxie, but Weis remained in his position as principal at the high school.

Melody Beeker, a concerned parent, told KSHB that she thought the incident had been “swept under the rug.

“I’m so thankful right now that something is finally being done because they do deserve to pay for what they did,” Beeker said.

The Tonganoxie School District issued a statement following Kleidosty’s arrest, Fox 4 reported.

“The [Tonganoxie] Board of Education has suspended Mr. Kleidosty effective immediately with pay and pending further board action. Mrs. Tonya Phillips has been appointed as the interim superintendent,” the release stated. “The safety and well-being of our students is always our highest priority.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Kansas superintendent and principal are charged with failing to report sexual abuse."