'Obsessed' Ex-Teacher Found Guilty Of Stalking 10-Year-Old Girl

A 59-year-old former elementary school teacher in Johnson County, Kansas, has been found guilty of stalking a 10-year-old student.

James Loganbill, of Lenexa, was convicted of reckless stalking Wednesday after a trial that included testimony from the unnamed victim, who is now 12, the Kansas City Star reported.

Loganbill, who was arrested in June last year, was teaching at Meadow Lane Elementary School in Olathe, just outside Kansas City, when he took more than 240 pictures and videos of the victim's legs and buttocks.

The girl said she is scared to be alone at night and has nightmares in the wake of the ordeal. "It makes me kind of scared of men now, just in general," she testified in the trial.

Loganbill was found guilty by Johnson County District Judge Thomas Sutherland on the basis of the girl's testimony, that of several witnesses and Loganbill's own admissions to police. The trial was held via Zoom with no jury present, and Loganbill did not testify.

Loganbill admitted to school leaders and a detective in March 2020 that he was attracted to and obsessed with the girl – especially when she wore black leggings in class.

Olathe Police Detective William King, the investigating officer, testified that many of the 230 photos and 31 videos Loganbill had taken of the girl between August 2019 and March 2020 were of the victim from the waist down wearing tights. The images and clips were found on his personal phone and his Olathe public schools-issued iPad.

The former teacher also monitored the victim's social media activities. Police found evidence on the devices that Loganbill looked up the location of her dance studio and competitions, Fox 4 Kansas reported.

"In my mind that goes beyond just pictures in a classroom," King was quoted by the outlet as saying. "In my mind that takes it to a different level that's concerning to me."

The investigating officer also said Loganbill used the devices to search for content involving teachers having sex with students and other porn sites, but no child pornography was found on his phone and iPad. Loganbill was not accused of physical sexual contact.

The girl's friends first noticed Loganbill's interest in their classmate and told their parents. One of the parents reported it to the school principal in March last year, before the coronavirus shutdown.

Loganbill resigned from the school a day after the principal received the complaint about him. He later filed for retirement after three decades of working at three different schools in the Olathe school district.

Loganbill is due to appear in court on Nov. 3 for sentencing. He faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a fine.