Prosecutor: Ex-Teacher Charged with Rape, Sodomy Didn't Expect Arrest

A former St. Louis County high school teacher suspected of raping a student in the mid-1970s apparently approached police because he thought he could not be charged in the case, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCullough said.

Donald Ingerson, 67, is charged with one count of rape and one count of second-degree statutory sodomy.

He taught at five or six school districts in St. Louis County beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s, McCullough said Tuesday during a news conference at the in Clayton. McCullough declined to identify the districts, though he said districts where the suspect worked have been notified and asked to contact police should additional victims come forward.

A spokeswoman for the Parkway School district said Ingerson had not been employed by the district. 

Pattonville School District officials also confirmed Ingerson never worked for their district

A Rockwood School District spokeswoman told Patch Ingerson was employed as a science teacher at in from 1969-1971. During that time he also served as an assistant coach for football, wrestling, baseball, track and field.

Ferguson-Florissant School District Chief Accountability Officer Larry Larrew confirmed that Ingerson worked at the school district between 1987 and 2010. He said he was a science teacher in the district and did some coaching for sports during that time as well. 

Larrew said while the district is still learning more about the situation, they are looking into the matter further.

A KSDK-TV Tweet Tuesday afternoon indicated Ingerson was a former teacher and coach at Ritenour and McCluer schools.

An investigation by the St. Louis County Police Bureau of Crimes Against Persons revealed Ingerson was a St. Louis area teacher at various schools in the 1960s through the 1990s before moving to Minnesota.

Two victims, both students at the time of the incidents, have been identified so far, though McCullough said his work in similar cases leads him to think there are others. Ingerson is suspected of having had multiple sexual encounters with both, McCullough said, the first between September 1974 and January 1976, and the second between Jan. 1, 1995 and Nov. 17, 1996.

McCullough said he thinks the encounters happened at different locations outside of school grounds.

In early June, Ingerson called the to say he had something to discuss, McCullough said. He spoke with investigators.

Ingerson, who lives in Ely, MN, near the Canadian border, arrived in St. Louis on Sunday and repeated statements about the sexual encounters to police on Monday, McCullough said. At that time, McCullough said, Ingerson was arrested.

Ingerson did not appear to realize that the statute of limitations had not expired, McCullough said.

Both victims have been contacted and have been cooperative. Police previously had not heard of either the victims or Ingerson, McCullough said.

McCullough said Ingerson moved to Minnesota sometime after he retired from teaching.

He is being held in the St. Louis County Jail on a $300,000 cash-only bond.

St. Louis County Police Detectives ask that if anyone believes they may have been a victim of a sexual crime by Donald Ingerson to call (314) 889-2341.

Florissant Patch Editor Aja Junior and Creve Coeur Patch Editor Gregg Palermo contributed to this report.