SerpApi.Org
A former Kansas City-area teacher, who has taught in multiple districts over three decades, is facing statutory rape charges in connection with an alleged relationship more than 16 years ago.
Mark F. Amos, 56, of Independence, was charged earlier this summer and authorities filed and served a warrant for his arrest this month, court records show. Amos is charged with three counts of second-degree statutory rape.
Online records for the Jackson County detention center show that Amos was released from custody on July 16.
A woman told Independence police in February that she was involved in a relationship with Amos in 2009 and 2010 and had sexual intercourse with him multiple times, including in his car and home. She told an Independence Police detective that the “first instance of sexual intercourse” occurred inside Amos’ vehicle. Records show she was under the age of 17 at the time.
“She advised Mark Amos picked her up late at night from her residence, parked on the street in her neighborhood near new home construction and had intercourse with her,” the court affidavit said. “She reported that this occurred at least one additional time in the same manner.”
According to Amos’ LinkedIn page, he taught at William Chrisman High School from August 2006 to June 2011. The statutory rape allegations stem from incidents in Aug. 2009 and March 2010, records show. A voicemail left at the administrative offices for the Independence School District, which the high school is a part of, was not immediately returned.
“I was a physical science teacher for five years in the district - I also coached softball and girls basketball,” Amos’ LinkedIn page says. “William Chrisman has a special place in my heart of all the great people and students I met.”
Amos also worked in the Pleasant Hill School District, the superintendent there said. He worked in the district for roughly three years, Pleasant Hill superintendent Wayne Burke said, and as recently as last year for “part of the school year.”
“He no longer works at the school district,” Burke said Tuesday.
On his LinkedIn page, Amos said that he was a health teacher in the Crest Ridge R-VII school district in Crestview, Missouri, from 2012 to the present day. But the district confirmed on Tuesday that he was only at the school from August 2013 to June 2017.
What court records say
A court affidavit describing the charges against Amos said the alleged victim told a detective that her relationship with Amos began with him “making frequent comments about her appearance and engaging her in conversations,” court records show.
She said that it progressed from “in-person conversations to Facebook messaging and text messaging.” And she reported that the “first instance of sexual intercourse” occurred inside Amos’ vehicle at the time.
During the investigation, Independence police spoke to several people. The affidavit is heavily redacted, covering the names of people who were interviewed and what their relationship to the situation was.
At least one person told police that they were aware of a relationship between Amos and the alleged victim.
That person said that the alleged victim “later disclosed to her that she had been to Mark Amos’ house and described having sexual intercourse in the basement while Mark Amos’ family was upstairs.“
Court records also show that “Victim 1” told police that Amos “frequently told her not to tell anyone about their relationship.”
“Victim 1 stated he told her they would both get in trouble,” the affidavit said, “that he would lose his job and family, and that others would think less of her.”
A review of suspect’s phone
After Amos was initially arrested in early March of this year, an Independence Police detective interviewed the long-time teacher.
“Mark Amos was advised of his Miranda rights and ultimately requested his attorney,” the court record said.
The detective also obtained a search warrant for Amos’ phone.
As he reviewed message data on the phone, the detective “identified communications consistent with prostitution-related activity, including messages arranging meetings, discussing payment and referencing sexual acts,” court records said. That prompted the detective to obtain another search warrant for “further review of the device.”
“Subsequent review of the device revealed that Mark Amos engaged in ongoing communicaton with numerous phone numbers, many of which were associated with individuals advertising sexual services,” the court affidavit alleges. “These communications frequently involved negotiation of payment, arrangement of meeting locations and confirmation of in-person encounters.
“During the review (the detective) identified approximately 40 unique numbers, which Mark Amos confirmed the in-person encounters at least once.”
