Former DeWitt teacher charged with sexual exploitation of a minor

DEWITT, Iowa (KCRG) - A former Central DeWitt High School teacher has been arrested on multiple charges after police say he sexually abused a former student.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Dewitt Police Department started an investigation into 37-year-old Cody LaKose in March 2022, after a previous student reported LaKose had groomed her and sexually abused her while she was a student at Central DeWitt High School.

“The victim feared LaKose could be targeting and grooming students in his current teaching position,” police said in the affidavit.

Police said the abuse started in the spring of 2017 and that the abuse happened in his office on school grounds.

The victim told police that she and LaKose texted and talked in person, and he received “nudes” prior to her turning 18. According to the affidavit, LaKose also sent sexually explicit pictures to her in June.

Dewitt Community Schools Superintendent Dan Peterson told KWQC LaKose was a teacher and coach at the school district from August 2010 to December 2018, when he resigned in the middle of the school year.

After his resignation from Central DeWitt, LaKose was employed as a science teacher in the Cedar Rapids School District according to an online resume. Most recently, LaKose was employed as a high school biology teacher at Iowa City Regina.

LaKose is charged with:

One count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor - Cause to Engage in Act (Class C felony)
One count of Sexual Exploitation by School Employees, (Class D felony)
Three counts of Sexual Exploitation by School Employees, (Aggravated misdemeanor)