UPDATED AT 11:45 P.M.:
A former Pella Community School District Teacher is accused of sexually exploiting a student.
Benjamin James Thompson, 31, was arrested on Wednesday in Ankeny and charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee – pattern and practice/scheme of conduct, a class D felony, and two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee.
According to court documents, the alleged incident occurred in May 2014 with a now graduated Pella High School student. Pella Police Chief Robert Bokinsky tells KNIA/KRLS News the warrant for his arrest came following a nine-month investigation into Thompson’s conduct.
“We received a report from the Pella School District that they were handling a personnel manner that they thought might have a nexus to a potentially criminal event,” Bokinsky says.
Bokinsky says the felony charge stems from what the victim told police was a series of unprofessional and aggressive comments made and text messages sent by Thompson prior to the alleged sexual activity, in which he was attempting to make the girl more comfortable with sex.
“When you have a situation where somebody who has a position of influence over another person, when they use that position to groom somebody, desensitize somebody and the the result culminates in some type of sexual exploitation by that school employee, that’s where you have satisfied the elements of that felony,” Bokinsky says
Thompson was most recently employed in the district as the Associate Director of Bands and as a teacher last fall. The Pella School Board accepted his resignation at their Monday, November 10th meeting.
ORIGINAL STORY PUBLISHED AT 8:39 P.M.:
The Pella Police Department tells KNIA/KRLS News that on Wednesday June 10, 2015, law enforcement authorities arrested Benjamin James Thompson, 31, of Ankeny, IA on an arrest warrant issued out of Marion County.
The warrant charges Thompson with Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee – Pattern and Practice/Scheme of Conduct, and two counts of Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee. The criminal charges arise from events occurring in the Pella community during the summer of 2014 involving Thompson and a now graduated high school student. At the time of the event Thompson was employed as a teacher with the Pella Community School District.
Thompson will appear before a Marion County judge for his initial appearance. Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee – Pattern and Practice/Scheme of Conduct is a Class D felony and carries with it a period of confinement of no more than five (5) years and a fine of between $750 and $7,500 for each conviction. Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee is an aggravated misdemeanor and carries with it a period of confinement of no more than two (2) years and a fine of between $625 and $6,250 for each conviction.
Thompson’s resignation was accepted by the Pella School Board on Monday, November 10th, 2014.