BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Bloomington Public Schools employee is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct for allegedly molesting boys that lived in his neighborhood in the 1970s.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that Kevin Belker, 65, has been charged with first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct against two victims under the age of 13 who lived in his neighborhood at the time.
According to the criminal complaint, Bloomington Public Schools notified police in November of a complaint that a current employee in the district had been involved in a sexual assault in the 1970s. Police followed up and learned Belker had allegedly sexually assaulted several victims that lived in his neighborhood between 1973 and 1980.
The victims ranged from eight to 12 years old during the time of the alleged sexual assaults. Belker would have been in his 20s. He had a younger sibling who was the same age as the victims and hung out with some of them.
One of the victims recalled Belker as an older guy in the neighborhood who the kids looked up to, the criminal complaint says.
According to a joint news release from the attorney’s office and the Bloomington Police Department, the man identified as Victim 1 was recently in counseling and he recalled being molested by Belker. He went online and saw that Belker was working at the Bloomington school district and reported it to district officials.
Victim 1 and four other victims came forward to police and gave detailed accounts of how Belker molested them, usually at the Bloomington house but at least one time in a movie theater.
Although the criminal complaint mentions incidents involving all five victims who have forward, Belker is only charged right now with sexually assaulting two of them.
Belker still lives in the same family home in Bloomington where the offenses allegedly occurred. He has worked for Bloomington Public Schools since September 2018. Prior to that, he workd for Edina Public Schools for nearly 13 years.
Belker is currently on administrative leave from the Bloomington school district, per their policies, according to the news release. He is currently being held in the Hennepin County Jail and will make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
The Bloomington Police Department is asking anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with Belker to call them at 952-563-4994 or contact their local law enforcement agency.