Two Washington state school workers allegedly seeking sex with minors have been reportedly snared by phony profiles — set up not by the police, but vigilantes.
Longtime Battle Ground High School business and marketing teacher Kevin Weeks was sentenced last Wednesday to 1½ years in Oregon prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to first-degree online sexual corruption in Linn County Circuit Court.
Court records obtained by The Columbian say Weeks, 57, believed he was chatting with a 14-year-old girl on a dating app when he drove for about an hour to Bowman Park in Albany, where he was pulled over and arrested.
Videos posted online by social media user People v. Preds show three officers silently arresting Weeks outside his black pickup as the unseen camera operator peppers him with questions.
Weeks was fired Sept. 16, according to a district spokesperson Amanda Richter.
“Student and staff safety continue to be a top priority in Battle Ground Public Schools,” she said.
In an apparently unrelated case, Western Washington University library dean John Danneker, 48, was arrested on campus last Monday on suspicion of communicating with a minor for “immoral purposes.”
Danneker allegedly summoned who he thought was a 16-year-old boy to campus for sex, according to Cascadia Daily News, following a discussion on a dating app.
The person who created the fake profile, who wasn’t identified by the news outlet, called police, leading to the dean’s arrest.
Whatcom County prosecutors say no charges will be filed, however, as the age of consent in Washington is 16.
Danneker was fired Friday and didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Officials with the Albany Police Department and Western Washington University also didn’t respond to requests for comment.
—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, [email protected] or @pdxzane.
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