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Lafayette fourth grade teacher fired after being accused of sexually exploiting children for years

Posted at 8:04 PM, Mar 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-15 20:04:54-04

LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A 4th grade teacher at a Lafayette elementary school was fired Thursday during a special meeting of the Lafayette School Board. 

Joseph R. Kimerer Jr., 46, of Lafayette, was charged last Friday with 13 counts alleging inappropriate sexual conduct with minors dating back to at least 2015.

The vote to terminate Kimerer's contract was unanimous.

Kimerer was a 4th grade teacher at Amelia Earhart Elementary School. He and his wife have two young children.

According to the Lafayette Police Department, investigators were first made aware of reports of suspicious activity involving Kimerer on Feb. 27. A police investigation reportedly turned up evidence of multiple male victims ranging in ages from 12-13 years old. Many of the alleged incidents, according to police, occurred inside the school during school hours.

Court records show the incidents are alleged to have occurred as far back as July 2014, and as  recently as January of this year.

In a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, investigators say Kimerer's victims were young boys he was giving baseball pitching lessons to. Kimerer is accused of asking the boys to perform sex acts on themselves and to send him pictures of their genitalia.

According to the affidavit, Kimerer acknowledged some of the conversations had taken place and that they had "gone too far."

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