Photo courtesy of Johnson County Jail
Emporia State associate professor Howard Pitler was arrested on Oct. 23 on one charge of electronic solicitation of a child under 14. He bonded out of the Johnson County Jail on Oct. 24 for $25,000 and appeared before a judge on Oct. 31 for a status hearing listed as a no-go preliminary hearing.
The arrest comes after an alleged incident on Feb. 9, 2023 where he allegedly solicited sexual acts through electronic means from “a person whom the defendant believes to be a child under the age of 14 years of age” according to court documents.
ESU placed Pitler on administrative leave upon being made aware of his arrest according to Director of Marketing + Media Relations Gwen Larson. He taught graduate-level courses fully online in the Teachers College’s School Leadership/Middle and Secondary Teacher Education program.
Pitler joined ESU faculty in 2018 as an associate professor. Before his time at ESU, he served as a principal in Wichita Public Schools from 1987 to 2003. While working as a principal, he won Kansas Principal of the Year in 1997 and was awarded National Distinguished Principal honors in 1999.
Wichita Public Schools did not respond to a request for specific information on Pitler’s employment.
Pitler was also a board member of the Association of Teacher Educators – Kansas. Executive Director Jill Gonzalez-Bravo told The Bulletin in a statement Monday that Pitler has since been removed from his position on the board.
“The Executive Board voted last week to remove Howard Pitler from his position on the ATE-K Board,” Gonzalez-Bravo said in a Nov. 4 email.
Electronic solicitation of a child under 14 is a severity level one person felony in the state of Kansas and carries a sentence of 253 months if there are no mitigating or aggravating factors. Pitler has not yet been scheduled for another court appearance.