Bloomington Public Schools employee charged with criminal sexual conduct for alleged crimes in 1970s

On Tuesday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced charges for a Bloomington Public Schools employee that involve two counts of criminal sexual conduct for acts against minors that occurred in the 1970s.

According to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, 65-year-old Kevin Belker 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. He is set to appear in court on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

According to the criminal complaint, Bloomington Public Schools notified police of a complaint that a current employee of theirs had been involved in a sexual assault in the 1970s. Police followed up and found that Belker sexually assaulted several victims that lived in his neighborhood between 1973 and 1980.

One of the reported victims saw online that Belker was working at the Bloomington school district and reported it to district officials.

That individual and four other victims came forward to law enforcement and provided detailed accounts of how Belker molested them, usually taking place at the Bloomington house but at least one time in a movie theater. Those victims ranged from eight to 12 years-old during the time of the sexual assaults by Belker, who would’ve been in his 20s.

The complaint mentions incidents involving all five victims. As of Tuesday, Belker has been charged with sexually assaulting two individuals.

The complaint states Belker has been employed by Bloomington Public Schools since Sept. 18, 2018, and previously worked for Edina Public Schools from October 2005 to August 2018.

According to Bloomington police, Belker is currently on administrative leave with the Bloomington school district and is currently being held at the Hennepin County Jail.

Anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with Belker is asked to call their local law enforcement agency or the Bloomington Police Department at 952-563-4994.

Bloomington Public Schools released the following statement Tuesday:

Bloomington Public Schools is aware of the charges filed against Mr. Kevin Belker, a special education paraprofessional at Oak Grove Middle School, related to incidents that occurred 30 years ago. Mr. Belker was placed on administrative leave earlier this month.

The safety of our students is paramount. At present we are not aware of any allegations involving students in our schools. Mr. Belker has worked in BPS for two years, having been hired in the fall of 2018. During that time there were no complaints made against him and he was not the subject of disciplinary action. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement in its investigation.

We’d like to encourage anyone with information to contact the Bloomington Police Department. Further information regarding this matter is classified as private data pursuant to state and/or federal law.