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WAUKEE, Iowa — “He was the reporting party of this incident and the allegations that did initiate the investigation,” said Sergeant Jeremy Long about Josh Smith (the now former assistant principal at Waukee High School) contacting the Waukee Police Department two days ago. That’s when the investigation began. Two juvenile male students have since been arrested for extortion.

“We`re still looking at some of the motives potentially for the extortion, so can`t comment on any of those right now,” said Sgt. Long. The amount being asked for was $1,350. Mr. Smith is listed as the victim in the incident report.

“There`s other investigations that are ongoing that we are finding out additional information as part of the extortion, but as far as any charges he may be facing, we don`t know know that at this time,” said Sgt. Long. “We are aware that there`s information out there or even the rumor mill as far as how communication was started and those are all things that are part of our investigation. We are still collecting information on those, because we have to be able to confirm those things before we can comment,” said Sgt. Long.

The rumors involve photos that are being circulated on the internet. “Yeah, we`re aware that some of these photos are out there,” said Sgt. Long. “They haven`t been made available to me as of this time, so I can`t really comment on the impact or what role these photos have, but we are trying to collect some of those photos in order for us to determine what they`re involvement is if any part of our ongoing investigation,” said Sgt. Long.

WHO-TV Channel 13 News reached out to Mr. Smith for comment, but he declined.

The following statement was sent to us from the Waukee Community School District:

“District and Waukee High School administration were notified of a personal situation involving WHS assistant principal, Josh Smith. Upon being made aware of this situation, an internal investigation was initiated. Mr. Smith is no longer employed with the district.

Waukee High School families and district staff were notified of the situation this morning in an effort to assist in maintaining a safe and orderly learning environment. We have asked our teachers to continue to make student learning our focus today and redirect any possible communications that take away from that mission.

As a school district we are not authorized to publicly share details about personnel disciplinary action as that information is confidential; however, we can share that appropriate disciplinary actions per Board Policy, and in alignment with legal counsel recommendations, are being taken.

We care deeply about the safety and well-being of all students and continue to remain vigilant in protecting our students by taking appropriate action when concerns are raised.”