Hunter
06/14/24
A former West High School paraeducator has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee.
22-year-old Joel Munzila was arrested on a warrant Tuesday.
The Gazette reports Munzila had a relationship with a student while he was working at the school. He regularly would ask the student to leave the school during the school day and meet at a predetermined location in a nearby neighborhood. According to the criminal complaint, Munzila would take the student to a home in Coralville where they would engage in sexual activity and then he would drop the student off in a neighborhood near the school.
The student told police this happened about five times between September 20th and October 20th last year. When interviewed, Munzila denied ever having the student in his car, but surveillance video allegedly shows him picking the student up near the school. An additional Snapchat video reportedly shows Munzila and the student in his car together.
He had his first appearance in court Thursday and was released without bail from the Johnson County Jail. A no-contact order was issued between Munzila and the student.
West High Principal Mitch Gross said Munzila was removed from the school as soon as the allegations came to light. He told parents in a letter that it was an isolated incident involving a single student.