A teacher at a West Valley City charter school was arrested Monday after a 9-year-old student told police that the man had been sexually abusing him for months.
Kyle Mark Hill, 33, of Provo, was a third-grade teacher at Endeavor Hall Charter School, at 2614 Decker Lake Lane, when the alleged abuse occurred, police say. Hill had worked there for three years, according to the school’s principal, Simon Raubenheimer, and has been fired.
Hill had allegedly been abusing the boy since September, taking him aside during class and keeping him inside during recess to take photos of the student nude or in his underwear, according to a probable cause statement.
The boy told police in a Monday interview that the first time Hill asked to see his underwear, he pulled his pants down “really quick,” and the teacher asked to see them again. The requests became more frequent and eventually the teacher began to photograph the boy, the statement says.
While other children were in the classroom, Hill would ask for photos by leaving “daily” notes on the boy’s desk with a box to check “yes” or “no,” according to the statement. The teacher would offer the boy candy or “extra class money” if he would check “yes,” the student told police, and when the student had checked a box, he would place the note under Hill’s keyboard.
While the rest of the class went to recess, Hill would take pictures of the boy in the classroom with his cellphone, the statement says. Hill would ask the boy to pose in various positions either in his underwear or nude, and at least one time in about January, the boy told police, the teacher touched his private area.
On one occasion when Hill was taking photos of the boy in his underwear, another student came into the classroom, according to the statement, and Hill instructed the 9-year-old to hide so the other student didn’t see what was happening.
The boy said Hill had taken nude photos of him as recently as this month, possibly around Easter, and had taken photos of him posing in his underwear as recently as last week.
On Saturday, the teacher had visited the boy at his home, and as the boy gave Hill a tour of his bedroom, Hill lay down on the child’s bed. Hill had come over to watch a “Harry Potter” movie, the child told police, but they didn’t end up watching it. The boy said Hill spoke to him about movies like “Braveheart” and “Deadpool” and talked about “what he did during the sex scenes in each movie.”
The boy’s parents contacted West Valley City police on Sunday.
Police arrested Hill at the school Monday, and he gave officers a cellphone that matched a description given by the student. In an interview, Hill admitted to taking about 10 nude photos of the boy for sexual gratification and admitted touching the child’s private area on two occasions.
Hill was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of aggravated exploitation. His bail is set at $250,000.
As of Tuesday morning, Hill hadn’t been formally charged.
Endeavor Hall holds classes for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Before his employment at the charter school, Hill student taught at Timpanogos Elementary School in Provo.
As is required for all teachers in public schools, Raubenheimer said, Hill had passed a background check by the state before he was hired.
Police are concerned that other children may have been abused and ask that anyone with information about other potential victims contact dispatchers for West Valley City police at 801-840-4000.
