Shawnee Mission teacher, coach charged with 5 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor

Sarah Ritter
·2 min read

Shawnee Mission North High School math teacher and swim coach Alexander Morris on Wednesday was arrested and charged with five felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The school board held a special meeting at 6 that evening and after 15 minutes in closed session approved terminating Morris’ employment.

“As this is both an ongoing legal matter and a personnel matter, I am very limited in what I can say. The investigation is being conducted by an outside law enforcement agency, and we are not privy to the details of their investigation,” district spokesman David Smith said in an email to The Star. “As the safety of our students is our highest priority, we acted as quickly as we could to remove him from the classroom, based on the information we were given.”

Smith said the district first hired Morris in November 2013. Morris also has served as a coach for the Kansas City Blazers swim team, which is part of the Johnson County Parks and Recreation District, since 2011, according to its website. And he helps coach the City of Mission Swim Club, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Morris, 32, was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He is being held in the Johnson County Adult Detention Center on $150,000 bond, according to court records.

He faces five felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child. According to the criminal complaint, he is accused of possessing videos or photos with a depiction of a child engaging in sexually explicit content, between Jan. 31 and Sept. 15.

An attorney for Morris was not listed in court records as of Wednesday evening.

Morris is the latest teacher to be arrested on criminal charges in recent weeks.

▪ Last week, Belton substitute teacher Jason L. Carey was charged with one felony count of second-degree child molestation plus two misdemeanors alleging he knowingly showed pornography to a minor. He faces one other felony charge, attempted enticement of a child, for allegedly sending messages to a girl he met while substitute teaching for Belton Middle School.

▪ In Olathe, former Olathe Northwest High School wrestling coach and physical education teacher Steven Mesa, who was fired this month, was charged last week with three counts of unlawful sexual relations with a student.

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