‘Delete everything:’ KC area coach accused of raping student, pushing her to stay quiet
A former Pleasant Hill High School paraprofessional and assistant football coach is facing nine felonies after a 16-year-old student reported that he sexually assaulted her multiple times.
Justin E. Kerscher, 29, of Kansas City, was charged Wednesday in Cass County Circuit Court with sexual trafficking of a child, statutory sodomy and sexual contact with a student. He also faces three misdemeanor charges of furnishing pornographic materials to a minor.
According to court records, the Pleasant Hill Police Department began investigating Kerscher after receiving information from a social worker with the Cass County Children’s Division. The social worker told police a student had reported she been sexually assaulted by a staff member she met at Pleasant Hill High.
Beginning in November, charging documents say, Kerscher added the girl as a friend on Snapchat and Instagram. She told a social worker that he had been flirting with her beforehand and she initially thought he might be a senior at the high school, but later learned he was an employee.
From there, the teenager said Kerscher began sending her messages over social media “all the time.” It escalated to nude photographs and videos of him and requests for her to send nude photographs in return, the girl told the social worker.
The girl told investigators she met with Kerscher outside school on three occasions: twice at the Pleasant Hill lake and once at her home when her parents were out of town. Each time, she said, Kerscher pressured her for sex.
The girl reported being assaulted by Kerscher in the back seat of his pickup truck one day when they were both parked by the lake.
In March, when she was alone at home, she said he convinced her to let him come over to her house. On that day, the girl said Kerscher parked at a nearby gas station so that no one would see him near her house. They ordered pizza and he spent the night in her bedroom, where he forced her to have sexual contact, according to court records.
After meeting him outside school, the girl said Kerscher still frequently high-fived her when they passed in the hallway.
She felt “weird” and “scared” as Kerscher allegedly made his advances, according to charging documents. She told police “she felt like (Kerscher) started to control all her thoughts, feelings and anything she did.”
“She stated she thought it was weird that he had already graduated college, he was a coach, and she was way younger. (The victim) said she was really weirded out and she knew the whole time it was wrong but she was too scared to tell anyone,” the charging document says.
In a statement, Pleasant Hill school district officials said they “took immediate action once we became aware of the allegations.” The district is fully cooperating with the investigating entities and the local law enforcement.
“The Pleasant Hill R-III School District will continue to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Additional information cannot be shared; however, we can assure you that the staff member in question is no longer employed by the district. The safety and security of our students continues to be our greatest priority.”
Kerscher allegedly told the girl to “delete everything” from Snapchat after he was placed on leave by the school district on May 5, according to court papers.
Kerscher’s Linkedin page says that he started working for the Pleasant Hill school district last summer, as a paraprofessional and assistant football coach. Before that, it says he was a behavior specialist in the North Kansas City school district from December 2019 through June 2021. He also previously was an assistant football coach at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School in Overland Park, and in the West Des Moines school district in Iowa, according to his profile.
Court records say that an interview with another possible victim was scheduled to take place Thursday. Police were also awaiting information from Instagram that might show a third victim, court papers say.
Court records did not list a defense attorney for Kerscher as of Thursday afternoon.
Kerscher is currently held in the Cass County jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 5:45 PM.
