Former Anoka middle school teacher charged with sexually abusing students

A former Anoka middle school teacher has been charged with sexually abusing four former students.

Jefferson Jerome Fietek, 46, is charged with seven counts of criminal sexual conduct — four in the first degree, one in the second degree and two in the third degree.

A criminal complaint states the alleged incidents took place from 2009 through 2019. Fietek now resides in Malden, Massachusetts.

According to the criminal complaint, Fietek was a teacher at Fred Moore Middle School, which is now known as Anoka Middle School for the Arts.

The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office received a criminal sexual conduct complaint against Fietek on June 25, and an investigation began. During the investigation, at least two additional victims reported abuse by Fietek, the complaint states.

The first victim met Fietek in 2006 through a children’s theater group Fietek helped found, called the Youth Art’s Initiative, the complaint states. The victim reported that Fietek began making suggestive comments a year later and in 2009, when the victim was 14, Fietek picked the victim up from his house and took him to a musical. The complaint states the victim’s parents were friendly with Fietek and allowed the victim to go with Fietek. After the musical, the victim spent the night at Fietek’s house so they could work on a project the next day.

According to the complaint, Fietek then began cuddling with the victim and performed oral sex on the victim. It adds that Fietek told the victim to make sure "no one knows about this."

The victim told investigators he stayed at Fietek’s home again a month or two later and they performed oral sex on each other that night and in the morning. The victim also said he watched "Peter Pan" with Fietek and Fietek suggested anal intercourse, which they then engaged in, the complaint states. At a theater camp in Crow Wing County in 2009, the victim and Fietek again performed oral sex on each other about five times, and they also "fooled around" five additional nights that summer at Fietek’s home.

The complaint states the victim’s parents knew he was with Fietek but believed other theater kids were with them. The victim also described incidents where they engaged in oral sex after hours in a middle school theater dressing room and at a park on the border of Washington and Ramsey counties in 2010.

The second victim had Fietek as a theater teacher in sixth through eighth grades and began spending time with him in late 2010 because he wanted Fietek’s help drafting an anti-bullying speech to the school board, the complaint states. It notes that the victim’s mother respected Fietek from charity work together and allowed the victim to spend time with Fietek unsupervised.

In late summer of 2011, when the victim was 15, the complaint states Fietek took the victim to a secluded parking lot in a Coon Rapids park and said he wanted to show him something. Fietek then allegedly took out a sex toy and lubricant and induced the victim into using it while he masturbated. The victim went to Fietek’s home several times before and after the incident and said Fietek would bring out the sex toy and watch the victim use it. The victim also said Fietek would ask if he could perform oral sex on the victim and would often play a pornographic show.

The abuse continued until the victim was 18 and moved away, the complaint states. The victim told police, "At the time … I was special to him, you know, and so I wanted to do whatever it was that I could to make him happy." He added that Fietek also told him he couldn’t tell anyone about them but said nothing could be done anyway because he was old enough to consent.

The victim also provided police with screenshots from Fietek in which Fietek described the victim as his "favorite" and discussed performing oral sex on him.

The third victim didn’t take classes from Fietek in middle school but used the Grindr dating app when he was 14, the complaint states. The victim said Fietek reached out to him on the app but he didn’t respond because he thought it was weird given Fietek was a teacher. The victim went back on the app when he was 15 or 16 and was contacted through the app by Fietek, and they agreed to meet up.

Fietek told other teachers the victim was helping him with things for a play, but they went to an attic area and he performed oral sex on the victim, according to the complaint. They stayed in contact when the victim was 17 and 18, and they met at Fietek’s home five to seven times for oral sex. Fietek also gave the victim a sex toy, the complaint states. The incidents took place from 2014 through 2016.

The fourth victim met Fietek after auditioning for a play in sixth grade. Two years later, Fietek began taking the victim out to eat or to the movie theater frequently. He also would pick the victim up from auditions when the victim’s mother was unable to, the complaint states.

It continues, stating that Fietek would ask the victim personal questions about what pornography he watched and his sexual activity. One day in April or May of 2019, Fietek took the victim and another boy on a day trip and when the other boy walked away, Fietek talked to the victim about a sex toy. Fietek then dropped the other boy off and brought the victim back to his Coon Rapids home and gave the victim the sex toy, suggesting he use it.

The victim helped Fietek with housework in the summer of 2019 because Fietek was preparing to move to Massachusetts, and they spent a day together. During that time, Fietek described how he helps his friends "get off" and could do it for the victim. After going to the Mall of America and to a restaurant, they returned to Fietek’s home and began oral sex. The complaint states the victim declined later requests by Fietek to perform oral sex.

They stayed in contact after Fietek moved, and Fietek allegedly asked several times to send nude pictures to him, which the victim admitted to doing 20 to 30 times. The victim stopped because he started to "realize that it was kind of weird for a grown man to be asking for a 15-year-old’s nudes." Fietek also allegedly bought a plane ticket for the victim to fly to visit him for a week in Massachusetts.

The victim told police he thought Fietek was a good person and didn’t want him to get in trouble. The victim’s mother said she thought Fietek was a good influence on her son but, after learning about other allegations, asked her son if Fietek ever abused him. The complaint states the victim denied it initially but later admitted to it and described the events to her.

A warrant has been issued for Fietek’s arrest.