North Kansas City teacher gets month in jail, suspended sentence for sex with student
A former North Kansas City teacher and coach received a three-year suspended sentence plus 30 days of shock incarceration after pleading guilty to a felony stemming from sexual encounters he had with a student.
Gregory Sims, a former science teacher and assistant football coach at Oak Park High School, pleaded guilty to the single charge in Clay County Circuit Court on Wednesday. He was charged under a grand jury indictment following an investigation led by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Shane T. Alexander ordered Sims to spend the next five years on probation. He faces three years in a Missouri prison if he violates the terms of his court supervision. His month-long stay in jail was to begin on Tuesday, court records show.
Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, a defense attorney for Sims declined to comment on the case.
Authorities began investigating the case late last year after a 12th grade student reported the sexual relationship to school officials.
North Kansas City school district spokeswoman Susan Hiland previously said that Sims was employed at Oak Park from August 2016 through this past January. He worked as a science teacher, track coach and assistant football coach.
Police previously said that on Dec. 13, 2021, an 18-year-old Oak Park High School senior reported to school staff that she had inappropriate sexual contact with a 35-year-old male teacher. School staff then reported the incident to law enforcement.
District administration placed the teacher on leave and seized his school-issued electronic devices. North Kansas City school board documents showed that the teacher resigned on Jan. 25.
According to a police search warrant, the student reported to school administrators that she had 14 sexual encounters with the teacher, most of which were on school property. The student also told police that the teacher had provided her money to purchase a contraceptive pill.
The student reported that what began as a casual relationship with the teacher last March escalated into sexual encounters in the fall. The teacher also exchanged messages of a sexual nature, according to police.
Two search warrants executed in December sought the collection of evidence from the school-issued electronic devices as well as a Snapchat account.
