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Former St. Johns school counselor acquitted of sexual abuse charges

State of Michigan v. Kimberly Feldpausch, trial day three
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After a two-week trial, the jury acquitted the former St. Johns Middle School guidance counselor of all six counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct.

Prosecutors said Kimberly Feldpausch sexually assaulted a student in 2001 and 2002 but the jury said they did not show enough evidence in their case.

The 34-year-old St. Johns man that accused Feldpausch testified in the 29th Circuit Court in St. Johns that when he was 13 and 14-years-old, he and Feldpausch had sexual relations between 50 and 100 times.

Feldpausch denied having sex with the student.

According to the man, Feldpausch, who was in her mid-thirties at the time, became his guidance counselor in the fall of 2000, due to his poor attendance, suicidal thoughts and self-harm.

The counseling sessions became flirtatious, he said, with Feldpausch allegedly teaching him how to take off a bra.

He said the relationship became sexual in the early fall of 2001, after he didn't make the basketball team. He said he went into her office for a hug, but instead they ended up caressing and kissing.

"We ended up making out for, you know, five minutes," the man said.

The relationship continued to evolve.

"It became more sexual," the man said. "It progressed quickly. We ended up simulating sex positions on the floor of her office."

He said on the last day of eighth grade, after Feldpausch gave him some Jack Daniels whiskey, they had penetrative sex in her office.

At the time he thought it was consensual, but said he now realizes that it was inappropriate, as he was only 14. The age of consent in Michigan is 16, but it is illegal for school employees to have sex with students of any age in their schools or districts.

He said their last sexual encounter was when he was in ninth grade in her office after hours on a weekend.

He said these incidents still haunt him, which led him to attempt suicide in 2019 and then again in 2020.

A social worker suggested he go to police with the information. The case was filed June 19, 2020.

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