Webb City teacher who molested student pleads guilty to reduced charge

A Webb City Junior High School math teacher and coach who molested a student November 15, 2019 pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court.

Under an agreement with the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office, Nicholas Popejoy, 29, pleaded guilty to third degree child molestation. The original charge was statutory sodomy. A second felony charge, sexual contact with a student, was dismissed.

Popejoy's trial had been scheduled to begin May 17.

No sentencing date has been scheduled. The agreement can still be rejected by Judge Gayle Crane.

The probable cause statement indicated Popejoy touched a boy's testicles under his clothing that day and had used his position as a coach to approach him, going as far as to try to learn the boy's home address.

Popejoy had been with the Webb City R-7 School District since 2014 and has been a junior high basketball and track coach and more recently freshman basketball coach.

Before he was hired at Webb City, Popejoy was a junior high track coach at USD 249 in Frontenac, Kansas from 2012 to 2014 and served as a youth tutor at the school while attending Pittsburg State University.

Outside of the district, Popejoy has coached the Southwest Missouri Vault Club and between July 28 and August 3, he accompanied five pole vaulters to Greensboro, North Carolina for an AAU Junior Olympics competition.

R-7 officials placed Popejoy on leave November 15, 2019 and was arrested at the school week later when he arrived to pick up his belongings.

The school district placed Popejoy on leave and he resigned a few days later.