A former teacher in USD 232 will spend the next two years in prison for attempting to have sex with students.
On Friday, a Johnson County District Court judge Neil Foth sentenced Keil Hileman to a total of 24 months in prison for two felony counts of attempted unlawful sexual relations with students.
He will also have to register as a sex offender for the next 25 years.
Hileman, a former social studies teacher at Monticello Trails Middle School in Shawnee, was highly decorated during his career, winning prestigious teaching awards and earning national media attention for his course centered around an in-class museum of thousands of historical artifacts.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing in downtown Olathe, one of Hileman’s victims addressed the court, voicing anger and a sense of betrayal due to the crimes he committed against her.
“You do not deserve all your awards because you are not a true educator,” the woman, now 20, said in court.
The crimes happened between 2017 and 2022
Originally charged in October 2022, Hileman was accused of engaging in “consensual lewd fondling or touching with a person 16 or more years old” between June 2017 and October 2022, according to court records.
At least two victims were listed in court documents.
Originally charged with six counts of unlawful sexual relations, Hileman previously reached a plea agreement that amended two of the charges to the less severe felonies of attempted unlawful sexual relations and dismissed the remaining counts.
One of Hileman’s victims spoke Friday
The victim, whom the Post is choosing not to name, spoke in court Friday before Hileman was formally sentenced, speaking about how Hileman’s crimes had impacted her and the feeling of hatred she felt for her former teacher.
“I have known Keil since I was five years old,” she said to the court. “I remember going to museums and looking up to Keil, thinking that he could help me, thinking that he would be there for me like he had been there for so many others.”
She said Hileman told her to keep his crimes a secret from others.
“You told me not to tell anybody,” she said, referring to Hileman. “Then you started calling and texting my mom. How dare you hurt her, too. How dare you hurt my family. I hate you.”
Since then, the victim said she has changed her career aspirations.
“I have more fire in my soul than I’ve ever had in my life. I wanted to go into education, but I realized that wasn’t enough,” she said. “I’m going to put pedophiles like you into jail.”
Hileman’s teaching earned national attention
Hileman was known for his personally designed course Museum Connections, which he taught to sixth, seventh and eighth graders at Monticello Trails.
The museum and Hileman were featured in a 2018 NBC News report, detailing how his course was based around a collection of some 50,000 historical artifacts and items.
After his firing, the course was removed from the school’s course catalog.
He was named the Scholastic Kansas Teacher of the Year in 2004 and was a Lifechanger of the Year nominee in 2018, a national award aimed at recognizing educators.
Hileman did not ‘deserve all (of his) awards’
Hileman did not deserve those awards, the victim said in court.
“Were you really just getting pleasure from manipulating your students to think that you were this wonderful guy, when deep down in your soul, you should be ashamed of yourself?” she said.
Closing out her statement, the victim asked Hileman to look at her, which he obliged.
“I hate you,” she repeated.
In response, Hileman nodded and looked forward.
Following that, Judge Foth acknowledged the victim’s feelings, thanked her for her testimony and issued his sentence.
“Thank you for reminding the court of the true depth of the emotional impact that this kind of predation and violation can do to someone,” Foth said. “It’s not like other crimes … These things are with people for life.”
Other Johnson County Court news: Olathe man gets two ‘Hard 25’ sentences for rape of child
