Central Heights school supt. charged with child abuse

A top school official is facing charges of child abuse, battery and intimidation.

Jim Reece, superintendent of the Central Heights school district, was arrested by Ottawa police and booked into the Franklin County jail Tuesday on suspicion of child abuse, aggravated battery and aggravated intimidation of a victim. Few details of the incident were available.

The case involved a 14-year-old girl in the 1100 block of Augusta Lane in Ottawa over the weekend, Ottawa Police Capt. Randy Allan said. He declined to give further details.

Reece made his first appearance in Franklin County District Court Wednesday on the three charges, Assistant County Attorney Chad Sublet said.

Sublet said the case is under investigation and, he declined to discuss the case beyond the court appearance and charges.

Reece was released from jail on $10,000 bond, according to jail records.

He will be back in court for another appearance Monday, Sublet said.

A call was forwarded to Reece’s voice mail at Central Heights this morning. It wasn’t returned.

The Central Heights school board hasn’t taken any action at this point, Steve Doering, the board’s attorney, said today.

“I have no idea what the board thinks about this or is going to do,” he said.

An Osage County native, Reece became Central Heights superintendent last year.

Before that, he was superintendent at Caldwell in south central Kansas, and at Healy in western Kansas.