By Sadie Hunter
Charges have been filed in case against a former Noblesville High School health teacher, who was accused of sexual misconduct with a former student, involving incidents dating back to 2012.
Identified Aug. 17, Nicholas Eric McKinney, 35, Noblesville, has been charged with one count of criminal deviate conduct, a class B felony, and two counts of child seduction, a class D felony.
A probable cause affidavit from the Marion County prosecutor’s office alleges the two female victims went to McKinney’s Broad Ripple home in the summer of 2012 while McKinney’s wife was out of town. Accounts from both girls state that McKinney provided alcohol and later invited them to sleep in his bed when they weren’t able to drive home, while McKinney slept on the couch. Both girls’ stories corroborated when they said they were awoken in the middle of the night to being inappropriate touched by McKinney.
A press release issued by the Noblesville Police Dept. Aug. 17 stated that Noblesville Schools notified NPD of the incidents Aug. 2, immediately after district officials became aware.
“Since that time, school officials have been cooperating fully with investigators from the Noblesville Police Department,” the press release stated.
“McKinney was taken into custody on August 17, 2016 at approximately 7:12 p.m. by Noblesville police,” the NPD press release stated. “He was initially transported to the Hamilton County Jail.” McKinney has been transferred to the Marion County Jail.
Upon notification of McKinney’s arrest, Marnie Cooke, director of marketing and communications at Noblesville Schools, released the following statement:
“The Noblesville Police Department has notified us that Mr. Nick McKinney has been arrested regarding a 2012 incident involving inappropriate conduct with a former Noblesville High School student. Mr. McKinney was a health teacher at Noblesville High School and as of August 4, 2016 is no longer employed with Noblesville Schools.
As noted in our prior statement, we immediately notified NPD when we became aware of this issue, removed Mr. McKinney from contact with students and worked aggressively with NPD on their investigation.
Student safety is our most important focus, and we want you to know what we have done to further our efforts in this area. Last year, we brought in outside experts to provide Stewards of Children training which focuses on child sexual abuse and learning how to identify “red flag” behaviors between sexual predators and victims. All Noblesville Schools’ teachers and staff members have now completed this training.
We encourage parents to discuss with their children appropriate adult behavior and to ask children to notify you and the school administration immediately should they see any signs of inappropriate behavior between a staff member and a student. Our school counselors are available as a resource for students or parents who feel they need support regarding this issue.
We have zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior of this nature. It is hurtful to student victims and our community, and detracts from the outstanding, respectable educators we have at Noblesville Schools. We will continue our internal focus on this issue, as nothing is more important than keeping our students safe.”
Anyone that may have additional information regarding this investigation is encouraged to contact Detective Robert Saxon at 317-776-6371, ext. 1229 or [email protected].
