GLENWOOD, Iowa — A 2010 Glenwood High School graduate hired as a part-time districtwide audio-visual support technician has been charged with sexually abusing a female student inside a high school closet.
If convicted of statutory rape, Andrew Schoening of Glenwood faces up to 10 years in prison and would be required to register as a sex offender, said Mills County Attorney Eric Hansen.
Schoening, who turns 20 next month, faces a charge of third-degree sexual abuse, which requires the prosecutor to prove only a sex act with a person who was 15 when the defendant was 19 or older.
The girl, 15, told Glenwood police Schoening forced her to have both intercourse and oral sex in a closet at the high school, according to court documents filed in Mills County.
Regardless of consent, any sexual contact involving Schoening and the minor would constitute a crime because of the age difference, the prosecutor said.
“At this point, the charge is that there is four or more years' difference between them,” Hansen said. “Whether or not there was consent or it was done by force does not make a difference.”
Schoening was hired by the school district's technology team in September.
Council Bluffs defense attorney Mike Murphy said he intends to prove the sexual contact was “consensual.” Murphy hopes proving the encounter was consensual might result in a less severe penalty or exoneration.
“I think the evidence is going to show that this was not by force or a rape,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Schoening and the girl were acquaintances who often crossed paths in the high school. Schoening oversaw audio-visual equipment at high school athletic contests.
In October, he was featured in a lengthy article in the Opinion-Tribune, Glenwood's weekly newspaper. Schoening, who has attended Iowa Western Community College, identified himself in the article as the technology coach for a group of students who cover sporting events.
Students took turns running the video board, designing the graphics, shooting the videos and interviewing coaches. Glenwood is one of the only high schools in Iowa with a video replay screen in its gymnasium.
The prosecutor said the incident happened during the school day Dec. 20. He said it's his understanding Schoening was inside the school as part of his regular job duties.
Schoening resigned after the incident came to light last week, Hansen said.
The student reported the incident to high school staff, and school officials promptly notified local law enforcement, Hansen said.
Glenwood's high school campus of about 600 students serves the Mills County communities of Glenwood, Mineola, Silver City and Pacific Junction.
“School officials have been more than cooperative,” Hansen said. “They have been working hard to help us out.”
School officials could not immediately say how many people 20 and younger work for the district. Unlike teachers, who require college degrees, the district employs qualified custodians, bus drivers, secretaries, paraprofessionals, food service workers and computer technicians of legal age, Glenwood Superintendent Devin Embray wrote in an email to The World-Herald.
“We are interested in hiring the most qualified applicant for the position. In this instance, the individual in question possessed high technical skills and abilities for the position of computer technician and was the most qualified applicant for the position.”
He said the district periodically looks at its hiring policies and could do so after this incident.
At 6 p.m., Jan. 16, Schoening agreed to be interviewed at the police station. Initially, Schoening was reluctant to admit more than a friendship with the girl; he subsequently admitted having sex with her sometime in December, but he was unsure of the date, the complaint stated.
Schoening also admitted to police that he knew the girl was under age, the documents show.
Murphy, the defense attorney, said he had yet to review the police reports and interviews.
Schoening remains free after posting bail last week. A Mills County magistrate has ordered him not to have any contact with the girl or her family.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com
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