Former Northland football coach, granted probation for sex crimes, faces other charge
A former Northland high school football coach who this week was granted probation for eight sex crimes involving a former high school student was indicted last month on a similar charge.
A Clay County grand jury indicted 44-year-old Joshua Hood on a charge of felony second-degree statutory rape for allegedly having sex with a teenager in January 2010. The indictment was returned on May 18.
Hood was employed by North Kansas City Schools between 2006 and 2013, according to Susan Highland, director of media and public relations for the district.
“The district had absolutely no knowledge of any incidents nor charges and first heard of the indictment in Clay County through a media inquiry,” she wrote in an email.
Earlier this week, Hood pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to five counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, two counts of second-degree statutory rape and one count of second-degree child molestation.
As part of a plea agreement, Hood was sentenced to five years of probation. If he violates that probation, he could be sentenced to four years in prison, prosecutors said. He agreed to surrender his teaching certificates.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol launched an investigation last year after a woman said she was the victim of sexual offenses by Hood when she was younger than 17 and he was 26 and 27, according to charging documents in the Jackson County case.
The crimes occurred in several locations in Jackson County in 2003 and 2004 when Hood was a teacher and coach at Holden High School and the victim was a student, prosecutors said.
Most recently, Hood was a football coach at Park Hill High School since 2013. He was suspended without pay in December after the school district learned of the original allegations against him and his contract with the district was effectively terminated after Hood surrendered his teaching license as part of the plea deal, Nicole Kirby, a spokeswoman for the Park Hill School District, said in an email Friday.
In a statement, Kirby said the district remains unaware of any allegations of sexual misconduct made against Hood while he has been employed with the district. But the district is encouraging “anyone who might know of improper behavior to report it to us right away,” she said.
Kirby added that the district takes “any possible harm to students extremely seriously.”
Hood also coached at Staley High School, Oak Park High School, Holden High School, William Chrisman High Schooland Concordia High School, according to his profile on The Kansas City Suburban Conference Blog.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 12:30 PM.
