Middle School Teacher Arrested on Child-pornography Charges

By Andrea J. Cook
Rapid City Journal
August 19, 2014

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/middle-school-teacher-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges/article_2de17c1e-eca9-5a82-982e-d622d4b4c937.html

A teacher at St. Thomas More Middle School in Rapid City was fired last week after school officials learned he was the subject of a child-pornography investigation.

A tip brought Andrew Hiipakka, 26, of Rapid City, to the attention of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to a Rapid City Police Department news release.

A search of Hiipakka's home produced numerous images of child pornography on his personal computer, the release said.

Hiipakka was arrested without incident Tuesday. He was being held in the Pennington County Jail under a $50,000 bond.

The Rapid City Catholic School System was informed of the investigation on Aug. 14, and he was fired that day, according to police spokeswoman Tarah Heupel.

Tuesday evening, Superintendent Barb Honeycutt sent an electronic message to parents of children in the system alerting them to Hiipakka's arrest.

"We are deeply concerned about these charges and the Rapid City Catholic School System will continue to cooperate with the authorities during the on-going process of investigating any misconduct," Honeycutt wrote. "As this process moves forward, we want to assure our parents that our school is, and will continue to be a safe place for their children."

ICAC detectives are continuing to study Hiipakka's electronic equipment, the department's news release said. Anyone with information related to this investigation is urged to contact the RCPD Criminal Investigations Division at 394-4134.

Contact Andrea J. Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com