St. Louis JCC Worker Charged in Child Rape
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A 20-year-old employee at the St. Louis Jewish Community Center has been arrested and charged with raping a child.
William “Billy” Hogenmiller was charged Tuesday with rape in the first degree, the St. Louis Jewish Light reported the following day, after being arrested Feb. 26 by St. Louis County police.
Hogenmiller previously worked at the JCC’s day camp and has been suspended from a position in its afterschool program.
The alleged crime did not occur at the JCC or Hogenmiller’s other workplace, where he provided respite care for children and adults with disabilities.
“I was told by the detective that he does not believe anything happened at those workplaces,” said Shawn McGuire, the police media relations officer, according to the Jewish Light.
JCC leaders told the Jewish Light that the institution conducts background checks as part of the hiring process and checks every employee against the national sex offender registry.
In August, a male day camp employee at the JCC of Metropolitan Detroit was arrested and charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. Matthew Kuppe, 21, was fired following his arrest and is negotiating a plea deal, according to media reports.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
