A former St. Francis High School employee was arrested for having inappropriate sexual relationships with students at two area schools.
Both students were teen boys while the ex-staffer, Kimberly Gersonde, was working at St. Francis High School.
Court records show Gersonde met her first victim when he was 15 while picking up his younger brother from Benjamin Franklin Elementary School. Police said she had a sexual relationship with him after he turned 16 last year. She was 23.
The next year she worked at St. Francis High School monitoring lunch and study halls when police said she started a sexual relationship with a student there in the spring.The two communicated through text message and Twitter.
Police recovered text messages between the two:
“I’m under investigation,” Gersonde said.
“Did you delete the stuff?” the victim replied.
“I know I’m screwed,” Gersonde said.
“IDK maybe not since I’ve lied so much for you...,” the victim said.
“Maybe jail isn’t the worst thing in the world,” Gersonde responded.
Parents expressed a variety of emotions upon learning about the allegations against Gersonde.
"I'm shocked, yes I am very shocked," said parent Pam Crownover.
That shock quickly turned into anger as parents, grandparents, even school neighbors found out the former employee was under arrest.
"It's a terrible thing it really is," said grandparent Hal Moesch.
"They're predators," said school neighbor Tom Ullrich.
Gersonde is charged with four counts of child enticement that carry a maximum sentence of 25 years each, along with two charges of sexual assault of a student by school staff.
"There shouldn't be anything like that. To me that's disgusting," Ullrich said.
St. Francis High School said Gersonde is no longer employed at the school. A letter went out to parents on May 19 informing them of an investigation, the same day Gersonde resigned.
