Coach charged with 46 child sex abuse felonies

Just months after being hired as the Nodaway Valley head football coach and special education teacher, Ryan C. Kissell, 42, of Creston, has been arrested on 46 felony child sexual abuse charges.

Kissell, a 2000 Creston High School graduate, has had a variety of roles within the Creston Community School District including middle school math teacher, middle school and youth football coach, middle school basketball coach and high school girls soccer coach. He also held positions at St. Malachy and Green Hills AEA.

Kissell was taken into custody Wednesday by the Adair County Sheriff’s Office on 20 counts of sexual abuse-second degree, one count continuous sexual abuse of a child and 25 counts of lascivious acts to a child.

According to a Creston Police report, the abuse began in 2013 and has been ongoing until last month, the victim 12 years or younger for the duration of the assault.

The victim said Kissell used forced sexual encounters as a form of punishment, citing at least six incidents of this nature in 2013, three in 2014, five in 2015 and four in 2016.

Kissell’s 21 Class B felonies each carry a minimum sentence of 17.5 years. If convicted of just three of these, Kissell would be looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Kissell was transported to the Adams County jail where he is being held without bond until his initial appearance.

“The district is not aware of any inappropriate involvement with our students and will continue to monitor this closely,” Creston superintendent Deron Stender said in a statement Wednesday. “We take these allegations seriously and will take necessary action in accordance with the law and district policies.”

The Nodaway Valley Community School District sent a statement to parents Wednesday immediately following Kissell’s arrest. “The Nodaway Valley Community School District is aware that one of its staff members was arrested on Aug. 16 arising out of past conduct unrelated to the staff member’s work in the district or district operations,” the release stated. “The staff member has been placed on administrative leave until further notice.”

With the Wolverines kicking off their season Friday with a scrimmage in Clarinda, superintendent Paul Croghan said the season will go on as scheduled with an announcement to come later today.