The former choir director at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, who was already charged with several counts of sexual exploitation of a child, is now facing an additional two dozen counts.
Additional charges: Johnson County prosecutors in an amended complaint filed Friday charged Joseph Heidesch with 24 charges of breach of privacy, which are all felony offenses.
- This brings the total number of charges against him to 30.
Background: In October, Joseph Heidesch, 46, of Shawnee, was first charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, along with two counts of breach of privacy.
- Heidesch was then later charged with two more counts of sexual exploitation of a child in November.
- Initially placed on administrative leave, St. Thomas Aquinas has confirmed he is no longer employed by the school, according to Fox 4.
The details: Court documents previously alleged that Heidesch used a concealed recording device to record two separate victims, one of them a teenager, in the nude or a state of undress without their permission.
- The initial crimes are alleged to have happened between Jan. 1, 2019 and Sept. 16, 2021, according to court records.
- All 24 of the new counts of breach of privacy are alleged to have happened between August 2016 and October 2021.
What’s next: Heidesch has been held in the Johnson County jail since Oct. 6 on a $250,000 cash bond.
- His defense attorney did file a motion last week asking for his bond to be reduced due to the fact that he has no criminal history and would remain under house arrest.
- On Thursday, June 23, Heidesch will be back in court for a bond modification hearing.
