Ex-Johnson County choir teacher admits in court to taping students while they changed
A longtime former teacher and choir director at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park pleaded guilty Monday to more than two dozen felonies for secretly filming students as they were undressing.
Joseph Heidesch, 46, entered the guilty plea in Johnson County District Court during a video teleconference hearing on Monday afternoon. Following an agreement struck between Johnson County prosecutors and his defense attorney, Heidesch admitted to 24 counts of privacy invasion and one count of possession of sexually explicit material of a juvenile.
Heidesch appeared by video from Georgia as he remains free on bond. Judge Michael P. Joyce ordered him to appear in person for his sentencing hearing.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors and Heidesch’s lawyer are jointly requesting that he spend 68 months — or nearly 6 years — in Kansas prison. He would also be required to register with the state as a sex offender.
Assistant Johnson County prosecutor Ryan Walkiewicz said detectives with Shawnee police, the lead police agency that investigated the crimes, obtained voluntary statements from Heidesch concerning the recordings, saying the films were made for Heidesch’s sexual gratification.
On a hard drive taken as evidence, authorities say hundreds of videos were discovered showing 25 identified victims in various states of undress, including some who were nude.
The secret camera was placed in Heidesch’s office, a space students were known to use for changing into clothes for choir practice. Authorities found that the recordings were made between August 2016 and October 2021, when Heidesch was first arrested and charged.
Allegations outlined in the criminal case have led to civil lawsuits filed against St. Thomas Aquinas over the past year. Last month, a former student filed a civil petition saying Heidesch, who worked for the school 22 years, would require students to change outfits over and over again under the guise of trying on different clothing sizes — with the aim of having them undress in front of his hidden camera.
Heidesch was scheduled on Monday to appear in court for sentencing on April 17.
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 5:44 PM.
