3 High School Employees Arrested On Suspicion Of Sexual Abuse

Three high school educators were in the news this past Thursday for suspicion of sexual abusing minors.

A teacher from Morgantown High School, a Mark Keppel High School basketball coach, and a Guerin College Prep High School assistant principal are suspected of sexually abusing students. Although none of the cases are connected, the thought of three different sexual crimes taking place at three different high schools is frightening to parents.

Michael Lemine, the teacher from Morgantown High School, was arrested for sexually abusing a single student multiple times. The arrest occurred this past Wednesday.

The 25-year-old was accused of sexual contact with a student from his school in 2014. Allegedly, the incident happened off-campus in the parking lot of a business.

Police became aware of the situation when the student in question told her therapist that she had a sexual relationship with Lemine.

Therapists are sworn to secrecy by law, except in certain cases.

According to the American Psychological Association, therapists can only share patient information with their express written consent. There are four exceptions.

Therapists can share information with authorities without consent if the patient intends to hurt himself, commit murder, reports abuses, or if they receive a court order.

In this case, the therapist was required, by law, to report what her patient explained about her high school teacher because it is considered abuse.

After his arrest, Michael Lemine admitted to having a sexual relationship with his student and that he knew it was wrong. He denied having sexual contact on school grounds.

He is being charged with one felony count of sexual abuse against a child.

Joseph Alan Kikuchi, a former basketball coach for the Mark Keppel High School girls’ varsity team, was charged Thursday for sexually abusing a girl on his team.

According to reports, Kikuchi began his abuse of the high school student when she was 15 and continued for nearly year. His charges include: one count of oral copulation of a minor, five counts of child molestation, five counts of lewd acts on a child, and thirteen counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object.

The high school coach quit his job shortly after authorities began investigating him in September. He cited health issues as the reason, and his lawyer denies all charges as well as any alternate reasons for his resignation.

Authorities learned of the situation when rumors began circulating through the high school about an inappropriate relationship between the school’s coach and a student.

Joseph Kikuchi is set to be arraigned on Friday at Alhambra Superior Court and could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

Guerin College Prep High School’s assistant principal was arrested on Wednesday for suspicion of sexual contact with a high school student, though it’s unclear if the student was a part of Guerin Prep or from another high school.

Charges have not yet been filed on the suspect, but a witness has come forward.

The unnamed high school assistant principal was allegedly seen during the incident, and members of the Chicago Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit are investigating the aggravated sexual abuse accusation.

According to the witness, the abuse did not take place on school grounds.

The high school sent notices home with their students, explaining what was going on. The assistant principal is on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate.

Parents read news stories like these and worry about their own children. It’s sometimes difficult to know that anything is going on until it’s too late. If you are looking for information on signs of abuse, you can go to the website for RAINN, an anti-sexual assault organization.

[Photo by Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images]