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‘Principal Of The Year’ Matthew Lindsey Arrested For Alleged Statutory Rape Going Back 20 Years

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 13:27 PST, Jan 13, 2017

In 2015, Missouri high school principal Matthew Lindsey was named “Principal of the Year.” On Wednesday, he was handcuffed and removed from Winnetonka High School in Kansas City by police, accused of committing statutory rape on a former student nearly 20 years ago.

According to court documents, the now 48-year-old Matthew Lindsey (a married father), is accused of having sexual intercourse with an underage female student beginning in October, 1997. The unnamed student was just 16-years-old at the time that alleged sexual abuse began, and Lindsey was 29. As People reports, “Principal of the Year” Matthew Lindsey is accused of continuing the illegal relationship with his former student until May, 1998.

Affidavits in the case allege that Lindsey and the young girl had sex approximately 20 times over that eight month period.

At the time of the alleged repeated statutory rape, Matthew Lindsey hadn’t yet acquired his esteemed status as “Principal of the Year.” Rather, he was a mere assistant principal, boy’s basketball coach, and athletic director at a different high school altogether. Reportedly, that Lindsey was working at a school in Richmond, Missouri, when the alleged statutory rape was going on.

After being arrested and charged with statutory rape on Wednesday, the Kansas City Star reports that lauded “Principal of the Year” Matthew Lindsey was put on administrative leave immediately. While he is on leave, Lindsey will reportedly not be allowed on the campus of the high school that he has been principal of for decade.

“Today, we were made aware of charges filed against Mr. Matt Lindsey relating to actions that allegedly occurred in 1997 or 1998, prior to his employment with North Kansas City Schools.”

The school district is said to be “fully cooperating” with the statutory rape investigation of its 2015 “Principal of the Year.”

According to the charging documents in the case, the alleged statutory rape victim graduated from high school in 1999. She claims that she was an underage cheerleader who was befriended by Matthew Lindsey (the boy’s basketball coach) on the bus during out-of-town games.

Reportedly, the pair would sit together to and from away games.

The victim claims that, when she was just 16-years-old, she met Matthew Lindsey at his then-home for sex. She also claims that the pair had sexual relations at a Lafayette hotel. According to the alleged victim, she had sex with Lindsey at both his home and the hotel on multiple occasions, but that it most frequently happened at his house.

Court documents allege that sexual relationship between the “Principal of the Year” and the former high school teenager began when Matthew Lindsey asked the then-16-year-old if she “did deliveries” as part of her job as a pizza parlor employee.

It has also been alleged that Lindsey gave his alleged underage statutory rape victim cash and gifts during their “affair,” including money to buy a 17th birthday party dress.

At least one friend of the victim reportedly confirmed to detectives that they were aware of the relationship between the Matthew Lindsey and the cheerleader, even claiming to have driven the alleged statutory rape victim to Lindsey’s home multiple times during the eight month sexual relationship.

The victim in this case reportedly came forward with her allegations of statutory rape against “Principal of the Year” Matthew Lindsey in October, 2016. It is unknown what prompted her to wait nearly 20 years to come forward, or what may have prompted her to suddenly take her case to Ray County authorities.

Just after the arrest of Principal Lindsey, a threatening message was found scrawled in the high school’s bathroom. Police have not confirmed or denied that it is related to the statutory rape situation.

According to Prosecutor Camille Johnston, she is not sure how the case was brought to the attention of detectives, but she made the decision to prosecute it because of Matthew Lindsey’s position of trust in the community, and the possibility that the decades-old alleged statutory rape was not the only instance of such behavior in the “Principal of the Year’s” history.

“To me it is important that kids are protected. So if this happened 20 years ago, it could possibly be happening now. I just want to make sure that our schools are safe, so that is why I went ahead and prosecuted it at this point. I feel strongly (about) protecting children, even if they are not in our county now.”

In addition to being named “Principal of the Year” in 2015, Lindsey also signed on to a a four-year term as a board member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, representing a broad region including Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.

“Principal of the Year” Matthew Lindsey reportedly remains incarcerated at the Ray County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond.

[Featured Image by Ray County Jail]

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