Prosecutors dismiss Buckeye principal's sex crimes case

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has dismissed a sex crime charge brought by Phoenix police against Buckeye Union High School Principal Joseph Kinney, citing a lack of evidence and no reasonable prospect of conviction.

A spokesman for the agency said that to convict a person of luring a minor for the purpose of sexual exploitation, proof must be provided that the person knew or should have known that the person they were communicating with was a minor. Kinney was communicating with an undercover agent, not an actual minor, and the photo of the young girl the investigator provided was not enough to prove that Kinney believed he was communicating with a minor, the spokesman said.

“Although the crime of luring can be committed when a suspect communicates with an undercover agent, there must be evidence that the suspect believes he or she is directing his or her communications to a minor,” the district attorney's office said in a statement.

To prove their case, prosecutors would also need evidence, not available in this case, that shows that a “suspect had the intention of engaging in sexual acts with a minor,” the statement said.

“The undercover agent and the suspect were not in the same state, and the investigative steps normally taken to prove this intent in court were not taken in this case,” the agency's statement said.

A Phoenix police spokesman said in a statement Monday that detectives were still processing evidence and that new information would be forwarded to prosecutors.