West Valley teacher arrested in connection with student sex abuse case


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WEST VALLEY CITY — A charter school teacher was arrested Monday after police say over the course of the school year he inappropriately touched and took illegal pictures of a third-grade student that he taught.

Kyle Mark Hill, 33, of Provo, was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and sexual exploitation of a child, according to jail records.

Hill taught at Endeavor Hall Charter School at 2614 Decker Lake Lane, West Valley Police Lt. Kent Stokes said.

Parents of the student, a 9-year-old boy, called police on Sunday to report what they believed was sexual abuse, according to West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku. The boy and his parents were interviewed Monday.

The child told detectives Hill had taken nude photos of him and also touched him inappropriately on one occasion beginning in September 2017. He said Hill had taken him away from the rest of the class and Hill had asked him to show his underwear, according to a jail report.

This led to more encounters. Hill took the boy away from recess and would take photos of him naked in the classroom, the report stated.

The boy said Hill passed him written notes with requests to photograph him either naked or in his underwear and would also "offer him candy or extra class money" if the boy responded "yes" to those requests, according to the report.

Hill would take photos of the boy in the "reading nook" of the classroom or against a wall near Hill's office, the report stated. The boy told the detective that a classmate walked into the classroom during one of the incidents sometime in early April and Hill told the boy to hide "so that the other student didn't see what was happening," the report added.

After interviewing the family, Stokes said officers went to the charter school and Hill agreed to an interview and was taken to a police station for questioning.

Kyle Mark Hill, 33, of Provo (Photo: Salt Lake County Jail)
Kyle Mark Hill, 33, of Provo (Photo: Salt Lake County Jail)

Before getting into the squad car, Hill was asked to hand a detective his wallet and phone and the phone matched a description given by the boy as the one Hill used to take photos, according to the report.

During the interview, Hill told police he had touched the boy's penis on purpose on two occasions and had taken nude photos of the boy for sexual gratification, the report added.

Police seized evidence from the classroom and from the phone. A warrant was also served at Hill's home and multiple electronic devices were taken, Stokes said.

Hill worked at Endeavor Hall for three years and at Timpanogos Elementary School in Provo before that, Vainuku said.

Hill does not have a previous criminal history in Utah, according to court records. Hill previously lived in Idaho at some point before teaching in Utah and held an Idaho driver's license in his wallet, according to the jail report.

Since Hill worked as a teacher, Vainuku said police are concerned there may be other victims. She encouraged any families of potential victims to call police at 801-840-4000.

Stokes said counselors were made available for other students in the class. While the allegations began about the time the school year began, he added it's difficult for him to say there were warning signs criminal activity the school should have followed up on.

"For our investigation, this was one of the best teachers in the school. (He) did a great job teaching his kids and working with the faculty," he said. "On all accounts, it's hard to say after the fact (there were) red flags. We can always do things better and we'd hope the school is working at those kinds of processes."

Contributing: Peter Samore

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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

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