KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Chinese teacher finds himself behind bars instead of inside of a high school classroom. Zhiyang Ji taught at Lee’s Summit North, but is in jail Wednesday night, facing charges of having a sexual relationship with a student.
Ji is the only Chinese teacher at the Lee’s Summit School District. He is 25, and his alleged victim is younger than 17.
Police say what started out as a tutoring situation quickly became inappropriate, and a crime.
Ji is in the United States on a work visa, and began teaching at Lee’s Summit North in August of 2016. According to court documents, Ji and his teenage victim became connected on several social media platforms, including Instagram, WeChat and Snapchat.
Police say Ji told them he first met up with his victim outside of school at the Starbucks across the street from the high school to help him with his homework.
“People have certain expectations of anyone who holds a position of power over children, whether they be coaches, teachers, anyone in a position of power,” said Sergeant Chris Depue.
The sergeant says that trust was violated quickly after their first meeting, when the teacher/student relationship became sexual. There were several inappropriate encounters at a park near school, a dinner on Valentine’s Day and multiple dates at Ji’s Lenexa apartment.
“So in this case, not only do we have criminal behavior, but we have a violation of that trust. And I think that’s what puts parents and educators and people on edge, which is why we have laws to protect kids from those types of incidents,” Sgt. Depue said.
Sgt. Depue says the relationship was discovered through the high school rumor mill after several students saw Ji with the victim at Starbucks and started talking.
According to court documents, when confronted by a school administrator, Ji first said he was simply tutoring the student, and later admitted to the sexual relationship. School officials immediately contacted police.
“I am sure parents or anyone else would be concerned about possible other victims, at this time there is absolutely no indication that there are any other victims in this case, however, the investigation remains open,” Sgt. Depue said.
Ji is facing two counts of statutory sodomy in Jackson County, and is expected to be charged with additional sex crimes in Johnson County for what’s alleged to have happened in his Lenexa apartment.
The Lee’s Summit School District provided this statement to FOX 4:
“The Lee’s Summit School District is aware of criminal charges that have been filed against a former teacher in the school district.
Because of our desire to protect the privacy of our students, because this is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, and because we do not comment on individual personnel actions, we are unable to provide further details regarding this matter.
However, the school district takes allegations of this nature very seriously, and took immediate corrective action upon learning of them. Nothing is more important than the safety and welfare of our students.”
