Former Kansas City Northland high school football coach found guilty of statutory rape
A Clay County jury on Thursday found a former Kansas City Northland high school teacher and football coach guilty of second-degree statutory rape of a teenager, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office.
The jury also recommended that 46-year-old Joshua Hood be sentenced to five years in prison. His sentencing was scheduled for 3 p.m. Feb. 21.
“We should all be able to send our kids to school without fear that the people we have trusted to look after them will instead become their abuser,” Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said in the news release. “This verdict demonstrates that we will never tolerate such predatory abuse in Clay County.”
A grand jury indicted Hood in May 2021 in May 2021 on one count of statutory rape of a 15-year-old Staley High School student in January 2010 where Hood was a teacher and coach.
““This case is about two people: one person who bore the burden of abuse for ten years, and one person who spent ten years running from the consequences,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Creagar, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Josephine Ellerman. “This case once again proves that delayed disclosure does not prevent justice from being served.”
Hood previously pleaded guilty to sex crimes in a separate case for molesting a teenager in Jackson County in 2003 and 2004 during his time as a teacher and coach at Holden High School.
In that case, Hood pleaded guilty in June 2021 to five counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, two counts of second-degree statutory rape and one count of second-degree child molestation, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
As part of a plea agreement in that case, Hood was sentenced to five years of probation for the crimes. If he violates probation in that case, he could be sentenced to four years in prison, prosecutors said. He also agreed to surrender his teaching certificates.
During his career, Hood worked for five school districts, including North Kansas City Schools, between 2006 and 2013, and Park HIll School District, where Hood became a football coach at Park Hill High School in 2013.
When Park Hill learned of the original allegations in December 2020, he was suspended without pay. He was effectively terminated after surrendering his teaching license as part of the plea deal.
In addition to Park Hill High School, Hood also coached at Staley High School, Oak Park High School, Holden High School, William Chrisman High School and Concordia High School, according to his profile on The Kansas City Suburban Conference Blog.
Both Park Hill and North Kansas City school districts have previously issued statements saying they were unaware of the allegations against Hood.
“What the defendant did to this victim, he had done before,” Thompson said. “Because ofthe bravery of this victim, he will never again be in a position to prey on an innocent child in our schools.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2023 at 12:38 PM.
