According to KXLY,
The director of financial aid for North Idaho College has been arrested in the wake of an investigation begun after a Craigslist.com post was discovered that offered NIC grant money to students in exchange for sexual favors.
Joseph Bekken, 36, was arrested Wednesday by Coeur d’Alene Police detectives for five felony charges, including attempted misuse of public funds, attempted procurement of prostitution, burglary, bribery and using a computer in a scheme to defraud.
He is currently in custody at the Kootenai County Public Safety Building.
It started with a post in the “Casual Encounters” section of Craigslist. “Hello, I have a proposition for NIC students. Email me and we can discuss,” followed by three common acronyms indicating the poster was looking for sex.
Spokane Police originally found the post, forwarded it onto the FBI, who got in touch with Coeur d’Alene Police.
Police worked with NIC administration to set up a fake student account and set up an email address. An officer began emailing the poster of the ad, pretending to be a female student.
During their correspondence, Bekken awarded $587 of NIC grant money into the fake student’s account. Police arranged a meet up, still pretending to be the female student.
“This director was using his influence and his position to misuse these funds in exchange for a personal sex act,” explained Chief Lee White.
On February 2, the day of the meet-up, Bekken showed up to the location of the fake student’s apartment, and so did police.
Bekken has since been removed from the college website and fired. Wonder how many students took him up on his offer.