Former Missouri Teaching Assistant Accused Of Raping 7-Year-Old Boy, Allegedly Tried To Get Boy And Mom Killed
SAINT LOUIS – A former Missouri teaching assistant and another man were charged Wednesday for conspiring to kill a boy and his mother.
Deonte Taylor, 36 (pictured below), and Michael Johnson (pictured above), 66, allegedly agreed to pay a confidential individual to murder a boy and his mother. Johnson’s charge said the purpose was to prevent the mom and her child from testifying in court over a sodomy case involving Taylor, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday. The agreement occurred sometime between Feb. 7 and Feb. 26.
Taylor allegedly sexually abused the then 7-year-old boy in a Hazelwood School District (HSD) elementary school’s classroom on Nov. 13, 2015. The sodomy charges allege Taylor’s DNA was found on the boy’s body and clothes. The district fired Taylor following allegations filed to police, according to the Post-Dispatch.
The Ferguson-Florissant School District (FFSD) hired Taylor to work with fifth-graders shortly after being fired from HSD, but prior to charges. The district was unaware of Taylor’s allegations or that he was under investigation. FFSD placed him on leave once finding out.
FFSD claimed they contacted past work references and Taylor had passed a background check, the Post-Dispatch previously reported.
“Ferguson-Florissant School District always conducts background checks during the hiring process,” the district said. “This employee’s criminal and child abuse/neglect background check came back clear with no indication of prior criminal history. The district would not knowingly hire a potential employee who had a record of or had committed crimes against children.”
But HSD said Taylor’s employment file included the allegations and termination. The file allegedly even said “do not rehire.”
Taylor was charged with three counts of sodomy in November 2018. He is being held on a $150,000 bail and has been in custody at the St. Louis County Jail since the sodomy charges.
The boy is currently 10 years old, according to the Post-Dispatch. Taylor and Johnson were both charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of trying to tamper with a victim in a felony prosecution.
HSD, FFSD, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the St. Louis County Circuit Court did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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