PARK HILL HIGH FOOTBALL COACH CHARGED FOR SEX CRIMES WITH STUDENTS THAT OCCURRED OVER A DECADE AGO

December 16, 2020
Makenzie Koch
Fox 4 KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Park Hill High School’s football coach is now facing charges for multiple alleged sex crimes with a student that occurred more than a decade ago when he worked in Holden, Missouri.
Joshua Hood, 43, has been charged with five counts of statutory sodomy, second-degree attempted statutory rape, child molestation and second-degree statutory rape in Jackson County, prosecutors said.
The alleged crimes occurred when Hood was a high school coach in Holden during the 2003-04 school year, court records say. Prosecutors say he’s accused of having multiple sexual encounters with a high school student under the age of 17.
Court records say the Missouri State Highway Patrol opened the investigation in April 2020 about allegations from the student that she was the victim of sex crimes at several locations in Jackson County. She identified Hood as the offender.
The student told investigators that she had sexual intercourse and other sexual acts with Hood when he was a teacher and coach at Holden High, court records said. At the time he was 26 and 27 years old.
Hood, now 43 years old, is the head football coach at Park Hill High School. The district said late Wednesday night that he has been placed on administrative leave. You can read the district’s full statement below.
When police interviewed Hood, court records say he admitted to knowing the student and having multiple sexual encounters, including kissing and digital penetration, with her that school year.
Police said Hood repeatedly stated that his life and career were over if he admitted to having sex with a student, according to charging documents.
Hood’s attorney Greg Watt held a news conference Wednesday afternoon where he insisted his client would be cleared of these charges. Hood did not speak at the conference.
“We look forward to zealously defending him of these charges, and the reality is we feel as though these charges are baseless in nature,” Watt said.
Prosecutors have requested a $20,000 bond.
FOX4 reached out to Park Hill for comment, and they provided the following statement:
“We learned late this afternoon — Wednesday, Dec. 16 — that Josh Hood, a teacher and head football coach at Park Hill High School, held a press conference about sexual allegations made by a former student from his time working in another school district.
“Early this evening, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office shared with us that they are bringing several charges against him related to these sexual allegations from 2003 and 2004.
“We take any possible harm to students extremely seriously, so when we found out about these allegations this afternoon, the district immediately placed him on administrative leave.
“We are not aware of any reports or allegations about Josh Hood of any kind of similar misconduct here in the Park Hill School District. He has been in Park Hill since 2013.”
FOX4 has also reached out the Holden School District and will update this story if we hear back.

Park Hill High football coach charged for sex crimes with student that occurred over a decade ago

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