Park Hill South coach accused of soliciting sex from 17-year-old student: Prosecutor
A former Park Hill South High School substitute teacher and football coach has been charged with attempted sexual contact with a student on accusations he solicited sex from her, according to Platte County court documents.
Dillon Thomas, 24, worked at Park Hill South in Riverside, Missouri, for less than a year as a substitute teacher and assistant football coach. He coached the 2023-2024 football season and taught several classes in March and April of this year.
Thomas had an inappropriate relationship with a female student using text messages from November 2023 until March 24, 2024, according to court documents. He is accused of attempting to solicit oral sex from her between February and March.
A warrant for Thomas’ arrest was issued Monday after the victim’s parents read the text messages and contacted the Platte County Sheriff’s office. Thomas has been charged with attempted sexual contact with a student, which is a misdemeanor in Missouri.
The Park Hill School District is aware of the charge against Thomas, chief communications officer Kelly Wachel told the Star Tuesday evening.
The district has been working directly with the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office and Children’s Division, Wachel said.
“He was an at-will employee with us,” Wachel said. “Of course, when we were made aware of the concern and passed that onto the appropriate outside entities, we did make sure he no longer had contact with students and he was no longer an at-will employee.”
Thomas no longer works at Park Hill South in any capacity, according to Wachel. He has been banned from Park Hill School District property while charges are pending, she said.
The victim, a high school junior who turns 18 in September, testified that Thomas knew she was 17 when they began talking. After they met at a volleyball practice, Thomas contacted her via Instagram and told her that he found her attractive and that he wished she wasn’t in high school, according to court documents.
The victim, who is not being identified because she is a juvenile, told authorities after her relationship with her ex-boyfriend ended in February, Thomas reached back out to her and offered to take her out to dinner. The two continued to converse in the coming weeks, during which she said Thomas asked her to perform oral sex on him multiple times, according to court documents.
Thomas proposed several meetings, according to testimony from the victim, none of which occurred. At one point, the victim asked Thomas to purchase alcohol for her and bring it to her at a party, which he declined to do, according to court documents.
The Platte County Sheriff’s Office first contacted Thomas on April 9. Thomas said he knew the victim was 17 and a student, but “he felt it was OK because he wasn’t (victim 1’s) full-time teacher or coach,” court documents state.
Thomas has not retained a defense attorney, according to court documents.
According to text messages between Thomas and the victim referenced in court documents, the relationship became common knowledge among Park Hill South students after the victim’s ex-boyfriend went through her texts.
Conversations between Thomas and the student became more sexual in nature in March 2024, according to court documents. Thomas instructed the victim to delete digital evidence of their relationship later that month, according to court documents.
Actual sexual contact with a student is a felony in Missouri; attempted sexual contact with a student is a misdemeanor. The consent of the student involved is not considered a valid legal defense when prosecuting this type of case.
Thomas attended Park Hill South from 2013 to 2017, where he was captain of the football team. He played football at Northern Illinois University and Missouri State University from 2017 to 2023 before returning to Park Hill South as a substitute teacher and assistant coach.
A cash bond for Thomas has been set at $7,500.
