Ex-Aquinas choir teacher, accused of secretly filming students, charged with 24 felonies
A former choir teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park was charged Friday with two dozen additional felonies after he was accused last year of secretly recording students while they were undressing.
Joseph Heidesch, 46, was charged in an amended complaint filed Friday in Johnson County District court with 24 additional counts of breach of privacy, a felony offense. He is accused of installing a hidden video camera for a sexually motivated purpose.
The alleged crimes took place as he was employed by the school between 2016 and 2021, according to the charging document. It was not immediately clear on Friday whether the new charges came in light of evidence of additional alleged victims or additional videos of the same children whom Heidesch is already accused of filming.
Heidesch, an employee of St. Thomas Aquinas for 22 years, was first arrested and charged in October 2021. Until Friday he was facing six felonies, including breach of privacy and sexual exploitation of children.
Details from law enforcement have been few over the past 8 months as the Johnson County judge overseeing the case ruled that year that the probable cause affidavit, a document that forms the basis of criminal charges, should remain under seal. In his ruling, Judge Michael P. Joyce found that the release of information could jeopardize victims and interfere with active law enforcement operations among other things.
Other information about the case has come to light in civil court. The parents of one victim filed suit against Heidesch and St. Thomas Aquinas, alleging the teacher kept cameras in his office where students would frequently change at Heidesch’s instruction.
Heidesch also kept a file on his computer containing videos of one student who was in various states of undress, the lawsuit alleged. The computer file had the student’s name on it, the lawsuit says.
The civil case also claimed the school either failed to recognize or ignored obvious warning signs, including alleged “grooming behavior” common among sexual predators.
Heidesch has been held in the Johnson County jail since Oct. 6 on a $250,000 bond. Earlier this week, defense attorney Paul Cramm filed a motion seeking a bond reduction, contending Heidesch poses no risk of flight or to public safety as Heidesch has no criminal history and would remain under house arrest.
A hearing on that matter was scheduled to take place June 23.
