Former Miami professor faces sex charge
FBI arrests suspect in Missouri, says he sought to have sex with girl, 14.
Former Miami University professor Kevin Conner Armitage, who is jailed on federal charges, showed up at a restaurant May 30 in Kansas City with $100 and a condom to have sex with a 14-year-old girl known as Crystal, according to federal court documents.
Armitage, 52, is charged with traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct, according to an indictment Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.
Armitage was a professor of individualized studies at Miami University, according to the university. In individualized studies, students work with a faculty member to create a specific program of study that doesn’t exist in a current major.
He is no longer employed at Miami University, Claire Wagner, Miami’s director of communications, told the Journal-News.
Armitage resigned last week from his job at Miami University, she said.
“Miami is appalled and shocked to learn of these allegations of illicit sexual behavior. It is especially repulsive that the allegations involve conduct that would endanger a minor,” she said. “Under no circumstance is this type of unlawful behavior tolerated by our campus community.”
According to the court documents, an FBI employee had been tracking Armitage’s activity under the user name “CletusTheYokel” on an alleged sex trafficking website.
“Just prior to 11 a.m. (Armitage) arrived at (the restaurant) and sat down next to the FBI covert employee,” the court documents state.
“Armitage showed the employee a quantity of U.S currency and a condom that he brought with him. Armitage spoke to the (undercover FBI employee) about the amount he wished to spend with Crystal, and they agreed on a quick visit in exchange for approximately $100,” the court documents state.
Armitage was then arrested, and according to the FBI, admitted to using the website under the user name.
He also admitted to sending text messages to an individual he knew as Crystal and traveling to Kansas City from Lawrence, Kansas, to meet her for sex, according to the court records.
Armitage was a “senior member” of the alleged sex trafficking website with 576 postings, according to court documents.
“These postings detail his prior experiences with prostitutes in Ohio, Arizona, Tijuana, Kansas and Colorado,” the court documents state.
Armitage earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Kansas in 2004. Previously he earned a masters degree in American studies from the school.
He was hired by Miami University in 2008, according to his LinkedIn social media page.
He was also a former assistant professor of history at Miami.
Armitage is listed as an inmate in the Caldwell County, Missouri, jail, according to records. Contact these reporters at 513-8202179 or email Michael.Clark@coxinc. com and at 513-705-2841 or email Lauren.Pack@coxinc.com.