KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 News obtained court documents that outline the case against three Leavenworth school district employees who face charges for failing to report child abuse, which is required by law.
Assistant principals Alyssa O'Neal and Kelsey Stimatze, along with Amy Sloan, executive director of human resources, are each charged with multiple counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect as mandatory reporters.
In the affidavit, the case’s detective wrote the district employees’ "reckless inaction" allowed former elementary teacher Jerome Riscovallez to “continue working with children where he was able to exhibit his inappropriate behaviors towards them."
Riscovallez was charged with indecent liberties with a child in February and recently had more charges filed against him.
The detective, Heather Mowery, also wrote the district first knew of an initial misconduct allegation in October 2023.
“If appropriate reporting would have been taken in October 2023, professionals with the Department for Children and Families and Law Enforcement would have been involved and potentially prevented there being 5 additional victims by the USD 453 teacher,” Mowery wrote in the affidavit.
Court documents also stated the three employees conducted their own investigations without reporting them to the state’s Department of Children and Families or to law enforcement, which is required by law for educators and administrators.
October 2023 Incident
In the affidavit, Mowery reported Sloan told her about a previous investigation from the school with “Mr. R” in October 2023. The affidavit cited the district’s own documentation of the incident.
That portion reads: “He grabbed (redacted) by the waist and locked his hands around (redacted). Some mention being uncomfortable. On one of the notes page, it is hand written the writer had been in contact with 'HR.' In the notes, 'Mr. R' was talked to where he admits to putting (redacted) on his knee to talk to (redacted) close and he made a mistake with proximity.”
Parents came to police, not school officials
Kristine McMillen’s daughter is at the center of the most recent case. We spoke to McMillen before publishing this story.
She remains disheartened by the actions of school district employees.
Further, McMillen questioned whether the employees who are charged with failure to report will return to their roles in the fall.
When we reached out to the district on June 12, officials said all three employees remained with the district.
We reached out to the district’s chief communication officer again on June 23 to request an interview and answers to our specific questions related to the affidavit.
However, the district sent us the same statement from June 12:
"Leavenworth USD 453 can confirm that Amy Sloan, Kelsey Stimatze, and Alyssa O’Neal are actively employed by the district. Jerome Riscovallez was terminated by the Leavenworth Board of Education on February 27, 2025.
"Due to confidentiality obligations for students and staff, and to avoid intervening in the judicial process, Leavenworth USD 453 has no additional comment to provide at this time."
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