Hood
Park Hill High School head football coach Josh Hood has been arrested and charged with eight class C felonies for allegedly having sex with a student while he was a teacher and coach at Holden High School more than a decade ago.
The alleged crimes took place in the fall of 2003 into the spring of 2004. According to a statement released by the Holden School District, Hood submitted a letter of resignation in June of 2004 to accept a job at another school and that the district had no knowledge of the alleged crimes.
“The district was surprised to learn of the allegations and will cooperate fully with authorities as they investigate this matter,” Holden School District spokesperson Bekki Currier told the Platte County Citizen.
Hood joined the Park Hill School District in 2013 and just completed the 2020 football season as Park Hill’s head football coach. Hood has been charged by Jackson County with six counts of second degree statutory sodomy to go along with one count of attempted statutory sodomy and another count of child molestation. All eight charges are Class C felonies and can carry a sentence of not less than a year and up to 10 years in jail if convicted and up to $15,000 in fines.
On Monday, Dec. 21, Hood posted $1,000 bond on a $10,000 bond with conditions. Prosecutors were seeking a $20,000 bond. Hood is confined to his home with GPS monitoring and is not allowed around children under 18 years of age except for his own children.
Hood was placed on administrative leave just hours after charges were announced last Wednesday, Dec. 16. The district said it learned of the allegations after Hood, and his attorney, Jeffery Bushur, held a preemptive press conference to talk about the allegations. In a released statement the district said, “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.”
The statement went on to say that the district has no knowledge of any similar incidents at the district since Hood’s employment began in 2013.
On Monday a district spokesperson told the Citizen that Hood remains on administrative leave and the school board had no plans to meet about the issue until its next regular meeting in January. Hood’s first court date is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 7, in Jackson County.
According to court documents the alleged crimes occurred in four different locations in Lee’s Summit. Holden is located in Johnson County. Holden School District serves the western part of Johnson County and parts of Cass County.
According to the probable cause statement the victim in the case was a student at Holden High School and less than 17 years of age when the alleged crimes occurred. In April of this year the Missouri Highway Patrol was contacted by the victim and an investigation was initiated.
Hood was interviewed by police just weeks before the start of the school year on Aug. 10. Authorities said corroborating evidence was gathered through multiple interviews with people familiar with Hood and through questioning of Hood.
Hood told investigators that he knew the victim and that she had been to his residence in Lee’s Summit. The documents say “He repeatedly stated his life and career were over if he admitted to having sex with a student. However, Hood admitted kissing and digitally penetrating the victim.”
When investigators asked Hood if it was a lie he had a sexual encounter with the victim he replied, “No.” Hood said he could not recall the age of the victim at the time and that his residence in Lee’s Summit was the only place he can remember being with the victim.
Court documents allege the first encounter happened at Hood’s father’s residence, also in Lee’s Summit, and at two different motels in Lee’s Summit where they “met multiple times for sex.”
The victim told investigators that Hood tried to perform sexual acts on her that were, “always painful and unwelcomed, but she did not tell him to stop because she was scared to.”
Hood, who is now 43 years of age, was 26 and 27 years old when the crimes occurred.
“We wanted to make sure we were public about his defense and his innocence,” Hood’s attorney told reporters at the courthouse last Wednesday as Hood stood next to him silent. “We wanted to use this as an opportunity to emphasize our confidence in his innocence.”
No other victims have come forward at this time.