Volunteer at Cole County private school charged with child sex crimes remains jailed without bond
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A volunteer at a Cole County school who was charged with raping a student remained in jail the day after her arrest without bond.
Jennifer Cecil, 41, was being held in the Cole County Jail on Thursday morning after her arrest on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree statutory rape, second-degree statutory sodomy and having sexual contact with a student.
The probable cause statement describes Cecil as a volunteer at a school but does not name which Cole County school, but Lighthouse Preparatory in Jefferson City released a statement Thursday.
"The school was notified of misconduct allegations concerning a parent volunteer," the school wrote in a statement. "Due to the nature of the allegations, school officials and proper outside authorities were notified, and Lighthouse immediately launched an internal investigation. We will cooperate fully with any forthcoming investigation as school policies and procedures are being reviewed. Due to the continued investigation, Lighthouse officials will not be providing further comment at this time."
School officials are "praying for the families involved," the statement reads.
Lighthouse Preparatory is a Christian school with students in sixth through 12th grades. The incident was reported by one of the victim's parents Monday, according to the probable cause statement.
The victim allegedly told law enforcement that Cecil had sexual contact with him from December through July and that Cecil initiated the relationship.
The victim also said the two communicated through Instagram and exchanged explicit images, according to investigators. The victim’s parents confronted Cecil and her husband about the assaults and Cecil allegedly confessed to them, according to the probable cause statement.
"Helping a student understand that an older person being interested in them is predatory behavior is the key to, you know, I think understanding perpetrators known to them, or even unknown to them," said Shael Norris, founder of SafeBAE.org, a not-for-profit that works to prevent sexual violence in schools.
