Charges: Bloomington school employee sexually assaulted kids in the 1970s

A Bloomington Public Schools employee is on administrative leave after being accused of sexually assaulting children back in the 1970s when he was in his 20s. 

Kevin Belker, 65, is charged with first-degree and second-degree criminal sexual conduct against two victims under the age of 13 who lived in his neighborhood at the time of the assaults, the Bloomington PD said in a news release on Tuesday. 

Belker, who is being held in the Hennepin County Jail, will make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office says.

According to the criminal complaint, Bloomington Public Schools notified police on Nov. 9 of a complaint that a current employee of theirs had been involved in a sexual assault in the 1970s. 

Police learned Belker sexually assaulted "several victims" who lived in his neighborhood between 1973 and 1980, charges state. 

A man, identified as victim one, was recently in counseling and recalled Belker molesting him, the news release said. He then went online and saw he was working in the Bloomington Public School district so he reported it to district officials.

Victim one and four other victims came forward to police and gave detailed accounts of how Belker molested them, with most incidents happening at a Bloomington home but at least one happened at a local movie theater, the complaint says. 

The victims, including three brothers, ranged in age from 8 to 12 years old, charges state. Belker, meanwhile, was in his 20s at the time of the assaults. 

The criminal complaint mentions five victims, but Belker is currently only charged with sexually assaulting victims one and two, the release notes. 

Belker still lives at the Bloomington home near 99th Street and Johnson Avenue he lived in at the time of the alleged assaults. 

He's been working with Bloomington Public Schools since Sept. 18, 2018, and is currently on administrative leave. His entry has been removed from the staff directory, but an archived version of the website shows he was a program management aide at Oak Grove Middle School.

Prior to working in Bloomington, he worked for Edina Public Schools from October 2005-August 2018. 

Bloomington police are asking anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with Belker to call them at 952-563-4994 or their local law enforcement agency.