Actions

Lafayette fourth grade teacher fired after being accused of sexually exploiting children for years

Posted

LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A 4th grade teacher at a Lafayette elementary school was fired Thursday during a special meeting of the Lafayette School Board. 

Joseph R. Kimerer Jr., 46, of Lafayette, was charged last Friday with 13 counts alleging inappropriate sexual conduct with minors dating back to at least 2015.

The vote to terminate Kimerer's contract was unanimous.

Kimerer was a 4th grade teacher at Amelia Earhart Elementary School. He and his wife have two young children.

According to the Lafayette Police Department, investigators were first made aware of reports of suspicious activity involving Kimerer on Feb. 27. A police investigation reportedly turned up evidence of multiple male victims ranging in ages from 12-13 years old. Many of the alleged incidents, according to police, occurred inside the school during school hours.

Court records show the incidents are alleged to have occurred as far back as July 2014, and as  recently as January of this year.

In a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, investigators say Kimerer's victims were young boys he was giving baseball pitching lessons to. Kimerer is accused of asking the boys to perform sex acts on themselves and to send him pictures of their genitalia.

According to the affidavit, Kimerer acknowledged some of the conversations had taken place and that they had "gone too far."

MORE FROM THE CRIME BEAT | Indianapolis sets all-time homicide record for third year in a row MAP: Indy's most dangerous neighborhoods | The Night the Sky Caught Fire: The Untold Stories of Richmond Hill | Convicted child molester reveals how he selected & groomed his victims | Teens killed man over weed and a pair of Air Jordans, police say | MAP: 2017 Indianapolis homicides