A former middle school theater director is under arrest and charged with seven counts of criminal sexual conduct after a police investigation prompted four former students to come forward.
Jefferson Jerome Fietek, 46, now living near Boston, is awaiting extradition to Minnesota to face charges of abusing middle school boys, dating to 2005 when Fietek was a teacher at Fred Moore Middle School, now known as Anoka Middle School for the Arts.
Four males told police similar accounts of Fietek befriending them, gaining the trust of their parents, taking them on outings and eventually bringing them to his home where he allegedly assaulted them multiple times over several years. They described his house as having a large amount of Peter Pan and Muppets memorabilia.
Police began an investigation into Fietek in June when allegations surfaced in a Facebook post by a former male student who is now an adult living in Utah.
The Anoka-Hennepin school district said it was made aware of allegations against Fietek through the post on June 25 and reported the information to law enforcement immediately. Fietek resigned his position with the district shortly after, according to district spokesman Jim Skelly.
Fietek was an outspoken advocate for gay students in the school district. He was actively involved in the fierce debate over anti-gay bullying that rattled the district in 2010 after a string of student suicides and the filing of two federal lawsuits by students who were bullied in district schools for their sexual orientation.
An attorney for Fietek was not listed in the court record.
COMPLAINT DETAILS ABUSE AGAINST 4 MALES
The criminal complaint refers to the males as Victims A, B, C and D, and gives the following accounts:
Victim A, now 25, met Fietek in 2006 through Young Artists Initiative, a children’s theater group Fietek helped found. When he was 14, Fietek took him to see a musical and he stayed overnight at Fietek’s Coon Rapids residence because they planned to work on a project the next day. That was when the alleged abuse began and it continued through 2010, including several times at a theater camp in Crow Wing County.
Victim B, now 15, told police he met Fietek when he was auditioning for a play in sixth grade. In eighth grade, Fietek began taking him out to eat or to the movies, and picking him up from auditions.
He told police that Fietek brought him to his house in 2019 after a day trip and gave him a sex toy to try. Last summer, Fietek was preparing to move to Massachusetts where he took a job as an assistant professor of performing arts at Emerson College. Fietek and the college parted ways after the abuse allegations surfaced.
Fietek kept in touch with the boy via Snapchat, asking him to send nude pictures. Fietek also purchased a plane ticket so the teen could come visit him in Massachusetts.
Victim C, now 24, told police Fietek was his teacher in sixth through eighth grades. Fietek cast him in a theater production and recruited him to participate in Young Artists Initiative. In 2010, he asked the boy to assist him in drafting an anti-bullying speech to the school board.
When he was 15, Fietek showed him a sex toy. The abuse continued until he was 18 and moved away.
Victim D, now 21, told police he attended the middle school, but Fietek was not his teacher. He said Fietek reached out to him through Grindr, a dating app, when he was 14. He ignored him, thinking it was weird because Fietek was a teacher.
Fietek contacted him again he was in high school. This time, he agreed to meet. The alleged abuse continued until he was 18.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is encouraging victims of sexual assault, related to this or any other suspect, to report the assault to law enforcement by calling 763-427-1212.
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July 18, 2020 at 08:04AM
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Former Anoka middle school theater teacher charged with 7 counts of criminal sexual conduct - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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