MICDS Teacher Accused Of Sex Crimes In Ste. Genevieve County

LADUE, MO — An arts teacher at the Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in Ladue has been charged with sex crimes in Ste. Genevieve County, the Post-Dispatch reports, after police say he had sex with an underage boy he met on Grindr.

Richard Joseph Schwartz Ives, 47, who lives in nearby Kirkwood, has been charged with statutory sodomy and sexual misconduct with a boy under 15.

Ives was arrested Wednesday after a Ste. Genevieve County sheriff's deputy pulled him over for running a stop sign on Valley View Road, near the Highway DD/Interstate 55 interchange. The boy Ives is alleged to have had sex with was in the car at the time and told the deputy about acts he performed with Ives. The deputy found about $200 in the boy's hoodie, which charging documents allege Ives paid to him for sex.

Though the boy wasn't a student, school officials have banned Ives from campus.

“The safety, health and well-being of all children is our first priority,” the school's director, Lisa Lyle, said in a statement. “We conduct thorough, periodic background screenings on all employees, provide training regarding child safety, and respond immediately and appropriately to all reports of misconduct.”

Ives was released from jail Wednesday night on $50,000 bail.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

Read more from the Post-Dispatch.

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