Former Jasper High School aide pleads guilty to rape, sodomy charges

A former Jasper High School teacher's aide pleaded guilty today in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony charges of statutory rape and statutory sodomy in connection with a sexual relationship she had with a student.

Sentencing for Janice Rusk, 43, Carthage, is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 16. At the defense's request, Judge David Dally ordered a pre-sentencing investigation to be conducted by the Division of Probation and Parole. The report is due March 2.

An exchange of text messages led to the sexual liaison between the teacher's aide and a high school boy, according to the probable cause statement.

The allegations against Ms. Rusk, an aide in the special education department at the time of the alleged incident, but who is no longer working at the school, are spelled out in the probable cause statement from Detective Ed Bailey of the Jasper County Sheriff's Department:

On March 26, 2014, I was advised by Children's Division and the Jasper, Missouri, Police Department of incidents of sexual contact between Janice Lorene Rusk (an adult) and several juvenile males.

I made contact with D.S., a 16-year-old male on April 2, 2014. During an interview, D. S. said that on a day in the first week of December 2013, he had deviate sexual intercourse and sexual intercourse with Rusk.

D. S. explained that he had been texting Rusk for a while an they agreed to meet on a bridge at the west edge of B. S.'s family property on Baseline Blvd. in Jasper County.

After Rusk arrived at the location and told D. S. that he could not tell anyone about the event, Rusk stroked his bare penis with her hand. After this action, Rusk removed her pants; D. S. removed his pants and they engaged in sexual intercourse.