Missouri middle school teacher charged with molesting 13-year-old student

A middle school teacher in Missouri has been charged with multiple sex crimes after being accused of molesting a teenage student.

42-year-old Zachary Leonard faces one count of enticement of a child, and two counts each of child molestation and sexual contact with a student, according to court documents. He was taken into custody and held in the Arnold Police Department Jail in Jefferson County on a no-bond warrant, according to a report by First Alert 4.

Leonard is a special education teacher at Fox Middle School. He allegedly sent hundreds of text messages to a 13-year-old student that contained sexually explicit content between April 4 and May 6. He also solicited sexual acts from the child.

The text messages were found on the victim’s phone by a third party who contacted the police. When questioned by investigators, the victim said that Leonard had kissed them on multiple occasions and inappropriately touched their body. Court documents also revealed that CCTV footage showed Leonaord alone in a classroom with the victim for 48 minutes on one occasion, and 66 minutes on another occasion.

On May 6, Leonard admitted in a recorded phone call to his father while at the police station that he sent the messages to the student.

“The Fox School District was recently notified by the Arnold Police Department of allegations of misconduct involving a staff member at Fox Middle School,” Fox C-6 School District said in a statement. “The District is fully cooperating with law enforcement in this ongoing investigation, and the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave.”