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Former middle school custodian arrested for alleged sexual abuse of student

Skyview_Neyman
Jenny Neyman
/
KDLL
Skyview Middle School.

Alaska State Troopers arrested a former Soldotna middle school custodian Thursday. That’s after they say he sexually abused a student in 2013. The former school district employee was investigated twice after for suspected misconduct involving other students.

Fifty-two-year-old Soldotna resident Alexander Coxwell faces three charges of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, an unclassified felony, and three charges of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, a class B felony. A seventh charge is still pending.

According to charging documents, troopers first investigated Coxwell in 2013 after the victim mentioned their sexual relationship with Coxwell to a friend. The friend told their mother, who then contacted troopers. The investigation was dropped after the student was admitted to a residential treatment facility. No charges were brought against Coxwell.

Troopers report Coxwell was investigated two more times after the initial investigation in 2013 for conduct involving students.

Then, earlier this year, troopers received another report alleging sexual abuse by Coxwell of a different student via the state Office of Children’s services. It was while investigating that report that troopers determined the 2013 incident warranted further review.

Those investigations included statements from Kenai Peninsula Borough School District staff that indicated Coxwell was “forced to resign.”

The investigator contacted the student from the 2013 incident earlier this year. The former student said they’d had a sexual relationship with Coxwell for over a year between when they were 13 and 16. Troopers arranged a monitored conversation between Coxwell and the former student.

In a text conversation, troopers say Coxwell made numerous statements about sexual intercourse with the former student. Troopers say Coxwell also commented about videos he took of the alleged abuse and that showed him supplying the former student with alcohol.

Troopers arranged a sting operation Thursday at the Kenai Municipal Airport. Troopers approached Coxwell, who was holding flowers. Coxwell gave the former student’s name when troopers asked who he was waiting for.

As reported by the Peninsula Clarion, at least four former school district employees have been convicted for sexual misconduct involving a minor since 2000. Of those, three involved an employee and a student.

That total doesn’t include Isaac Davis, a former borough employee who pleaded guilty two weeks ago to attempted indecent viewing of minors. Davis was arrested in 2022 after state troopers said he’d been photographing women and girls in pool locker rooms without their knowledge, including at Skyview Middle School, Ninilchik School and Nikiski Middle/High School.

A man was charged in February after the Soldotna Police Department said he intentionally exposed himself to a student while working in Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School.

The charges also come amid a case actively being litigated against a former Soldotna High School teacher and head of the local teachers’ union. In that case, Nathaniel Erfurth faces more than 60 charges after a former student said they had a sexual relationship for years while she was still a minor.

According to the Alaska Court System’s digital database, Coxwell was arraigned Friday morning in Kenai. As of Friday at 3:30, Coxwell was being represented by the Public Defender Agency and did not yet have another court appearance scheduled.

Troopers believe Coxwell may have had additional victims. The agency asks anyone with relevant information to contact troopers at 907-262-4453.

Corrected: September 9, 2024 at 11:25 AM AKDT
This story has been updated to correct the reporting chain of the initial complaint against Coxwell.
Prior to joining KDLL's news team in May 2024, O'Hara spent nearly four years reporting for the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai. Before that, she was a freelance reporter for The New York Times, a statehouse reporter for the Columbia Missourian and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. You can reach her at aohara@kdll.org
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