Southwest Missouri teacher accused of child sex crimes
McDonald County Prosecutor Maleia Cheney filed a charge of statutory rape against Joelle Stark, 41, on Friday. According to court records, the man told authorities that when he was Stark's student, between 2016 and 2018, Stark would write notes to get him out of class and would take him to her house for sex.
He also told investigators that Stark would touch him inappropriately while other students were in the classroom.
The McDonald County School District issued a statement saying it placed Stark on administrative leave as soon as it was made aware of the investigation. District officials say they are cooperating with law enforcement and have directed all questions to the prosecutor's office.
Southwest Missouri teacher accused of child sex crimes
A drone and helicopter brought in to help search for suspect in police chase
Two separate high-speed motorcycle chases in Joplin end with arrests in Kansas
Former youth football league prez might have clean record after admitting to $55K theft
You can read the district's full statement below.
The McDonald County R-1 School District was recently notified by law enforcement of an ongoing investigation involving a district teacher. Upon receiving this information, the district immediately placed the teacher on administrative leave, following standard policy and procedure.
The McDonald County Prosecuting Attorney has now filed formal charges. This remains an active criminal investigation, and as such, the district is limited in the details it can share publicly.
The district is fully cooperating with law enforcement and will continue to do so throughout the course of the investigation.
The district is committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and professional learning environment while ensuring due process is upheld for all individuals involved.
District Statement Regarding Ongoing Investigation
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pregnant Teen Told Friend She Didn't 'Feel Safe.' She's Been Missing for a Week After Reported Argument with Boyfriend
A friend said Kylee Monteiro told her that "something's not right" shortly before she disappeared on Aug. 7 NEED TO KNOW An 18-year-old woman has been missing for a week after she disappeared following a reported argument with her boyfriend Kylee Monteiro was last seen in the area of County Street in Rehoboth on Aug. 7, according to police Family said Kylee is 11 weeks pregnant A pregnant 18-year-old woman from Massachusetts has been missing for a week after she disappeared following a reported argument with her boyfriend. Kylee Monteiro has been missing since Thursday, Aug. 7, according to a bulletin shared by the Rehoboth Police Department (RPD). Police said Kylee was last seen in the area of County Street in Rehoboth, a town located in southeastern Massachusetts near the Rhode Island border. Family members said Kylee is 11 weeks pregnant and had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend shortly before she vanished, according to ABC affiliate WCVB and CBS affiliate WBZ. They also said it is unlikely that Kylee would willingly cut off all contact with loved ones and go dark on social media, according to FOX affiliate WFXT. Faith Monteiro, Kylee's sister, said her sibling is 'timid and scared' and 'doesn't know how to be on her own,' WBZ reported. "That's the last contact that she's made with anyone was Thursday through text message," said Faith, according to WCVB. "The last known time when we heard her voice was Wednesday night." One of Kylee's friends expressed concern for the young woman's safety. She was one of the last people who spoke to Kylee before she disappeared. "She was like 'I don't feel safe right now something's not right.' I tried talking with her after that, and she just stopped responding to me after that," the friend said, according to WCVB. Kylee is described as about 6 feet tall and "heavy set," with light brown hair and brown eyes, police said. She was wearing a red t-shirt with the phrase "Get Over It" on the front, as well as ripped blue jeans and tan boots. Additionally, Kylee 'may have been carrying a white bag with her belongings inside.' "I just want her to know that like, we miss you, and we're not going to stop trying to find you,' said Kylee's friend Sophia Cordeiro, WBZ reported. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Anyone with information about Kylee's whereabouts or video surveillance from County Street in Rehoboth is asked to contact Trooper Sabrina Hinchey at 508-972-1041 or Detective Paul McGovern at (508)-252- 3722 x 1135. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hunter Biden gives blunt two-word response to Melania Trump's threats of $1 billion defamation lawsuit
Hunter Biden has refused to apologize to First Lady Melania Trump after she threatened him with legal action for 'over $1bn in damages' if he failed to retract comments he made linking her to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. 'F*** that! That's not going to happen,' Biden laughed during a new interview with British journalist Andrew Callaghan, the same person he was speaking to in July when he made the allegations that apparently enraged the first lady. 'First of all is that, what I said was what I have heard and seen reported and written, primarily from Michael Wolff but also dating back all the way to 2019 when The New York Times – I think Annie Carney and and Maggie Haberman – reported that sources said that Jeffrey Epstein claimed to be the person to introduce Donald Trump to Melania at that time,' Biden continued. 'But the primary source was the interviews that Michael Wolff has been conducting, in which he has actually tapes of, I think, hours and hours and hours of interviews with Jeffrey Epstein directly. 'So, you know, fact of the matter is that, you know, I don't think that these threats of a lawsuit add up to anything other than a designed distraction because it's not about who introduced whom to who. I don't know how that in any way rises to the level of defamation to begin with.' Lawyers for Trump had objected to two statements made by Biden, the son of former president Joe Biden, in a YouTube interview he gave to Callaghan last month. In the sprawling discussion in question, Biden alleged that it was Epstein who first introduced Melania to Trump in the late 1990s, when she was a fashion model and he a luxury property magnate with no known political aspirations. The statements are false, defamatory, and 'extremely salacious,' Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in the letter to Biden. His remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady 'to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,' Brito wrote. The letter demands that Biden walk back the claim and apologise or face legal action for 'over $1bn in damages'. It also accuses the former president's son of having a 'vast history of trading on the names of others' and repeating the claim 'to draw attention to yourself.' Biden made the Epstein comments while also lashing out at 'elites' like the Hollywood actor George Clooney and others in the Democratic Party whom, he said, had undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign, also revealing that Biden Sr had been on Ambien when he suffered a disastrous debate defeat to Trump in Atlanta last June. 'Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,' Biden said in one of the comments Trump disputes. As he suggested again on Thursday, Biden attributed the claim at the time to Wolff, whom the president disparaged in June as a 'third-rate reporter' and accused of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favored strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures like the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modeling agent, at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. The letter to Hunter Biden is dated August 6 and was first reported on Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. President Trump continues to face questions about his past friendship with Epstein, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing and is currently suing The Wall Street Journal for reporting that he once sent the sex offender a 'bawdy' doodle for his birthday. The uproar over the disgraced financier has raged ever since the Justice Department and FBI ruled in early July that he left behind no 'client list' and died by suicide in August 2019, a verdict that enraged the president's supporters, who continue to demand answers and allege a 'cover-up' to protect influential people. It has been reported that the president was briefed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who stated that his name appears in the government's files on Epstein, but that does not imply misconduct. Trump is known to have become increasingly frustrated at the story's continued dominance of the news agenda over the past six weeks and has even rebuked members of his conservative coalition for obsessing over it. Additional reporting by agencies.
Associated Press
8 minutes ago
- Associated Press
NCAA informs Michigan ruling on sign-stealing investigation will be released Friday, AP source says
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The NCAA has informed Michigan that the organization will announce the results of its sign-stealing investigation on Friday, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the details. The NCAA alleged last year in a notice that current coach Sherrone Moore violated rules as an assistant under former coach Jim Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court. Moore also was accused of deleting text messages with sign-stealer Connor Stalions before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has previously said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA's investigation, but recently declined to say much about the issue looming over the college football program with the most victories. 'Today, not tomorrow, that's all I'm worried about,' he said on Monday. The NCAA investigation surfaced early in the 2023 season amid allegations that Michigan used a robust in-person scouting and sign-stealing operation conducted by Stalions, a former a low-level staffer. He was suspended by the school and later resigned. Stalions, who did not participate in the NCAA investigation, recently said he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons. Michigan has been prepared to suspend Moore for two games during the coming season as part of self-imposed sanctions. The NCAA will announce soon whether that punishment is enough to address allegations that Moore failed to cooperate in an investigation. Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions last month, suggesting that Michigan's football program should not face more sanctions related to the sign-stealing saga. After winning the 2023 national championship, Harbaugh left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and then play at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6. Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten, three weeks after an investigation by the NCAA into the allegations began. Hours later, Michigan asked a court for an injunction and temporary restraining order and the two sides narrowly avoided a court hearing. Harbaugh has repeatedly denied any involvement in Stalions' apparent scheme. The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team's signals. Multiple Big Ten schools had records showing ticket purchases under Stalions' name and video surveillance footage of people in those seats with cell phones pointed toward the field. Big Ten coaches and athletic directors previously pushed Petitti to punish Harbaugh before the NCAA concluded its investigation. When the Big Ten did suspend Harbaugh, Michigan claimed the commissioner overstepped his authority and acted outside the conference's bylaws. Athletic director Warde Manuel released a scathing statement just before Michigan kicked off at Penn State and won 24-15 without Harbaugh on the sideline. The NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years. ___ AP college football: and
