Kansas City theater director, 63, found dead at his home two days after he was accused of sex abuse

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A Kansas City children’s theater director was found dead Saturday just days after stories of sexual abuse over his 30-year tenure began to spread across social media.

Jeff Church, 63, was found dead by local police at his home on West 63rd Street in Kansas City Saturday afternoon, just hours after The Coterie Theater said it had accepted his resignation. The medical examiner’s office has not yet determined the cause of death and police are still investigating.

Church had been the artistic director at the theater for well over 30 years and directed and produced a number of plays and musicals around the city.  

The accusations from young male actors and theater staffers began to trickle out on December 20, when a former actor named Dashawn Young said that Church sexually assaulted him at a pool party in 2017, when he was 22.

Kansas City theater director, 63, found dead at his home two days after he was accused of sex abuse

Jeff Church, 63, was found dead by local police at his home on West 63rd Street in Kansas City Saturday afternoon, just hours after The Coterie Theater said it had accepted his resignation over multiple accusations of sexual abuse

Young – in a video that has since been taken down – said that he and Church had been on two dates but that their relationship had closed at the time.

He alleged that after the party, he went into Church’s bedroom to change out of his swimsuit when Church unexpectedly tried to have sex with him, The Pitch reported. 

The outlet followed up on Young’s accusation by speaking to about a dozen former employees of The Coterie, all of whom called Church’s predation ‘Kansas City theater’s worst kept secret.’

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They said that the sources, who remained anonymous due to fear of retaliation from Church: ‘Uses the promise of career advancement, in combination with social, professional, and physical pressure, to enact predatory behavior on young male actors.’ 

Church’s alleged victims said the tiny size of Kansas City’s theater scene meant that the alleged pervert wielded great power with which to manipulate young men.  

Young said that as of Friday, the only interaction he’d had with anyone from the theater was when an employee asked him to not tag their account in his accusations. 

Two days later, Mark Manning – a local radio personality – said that Church had assaulted him when he was 27 in 1991. Manning said he knew of others Church had abused and said three others reached out to him after posting his accusation to Facebook saying they’d experienced similar.  

Manning told the Kansas City Star that he wanted to support Young and any other victims who might be out there.

The accusations began to trickle out on December 20, when a former actor named Dashawn Young said that Church sexually assaulted him at a pool party in 2017, when he was 22

The accusations began to trickle out on December 20, when a former actor named Dashawn Young said that Church sexually assaulted him at a pool party in 2017, when he was 22

Two days later, Mark Manning - a local radio personality - said that Church had assaulted him when he was 27 in 1991. Manning said he knew of others Church had abused and said three others reached out to him after posting his accusation to Facebook saying they'd experienced similar

Two days later, Mark Manning – a local radio personality – said that Church had assaulted him when he was 27 in 1991. Manning said he knew of others Church had abused and said three others reached out to him after posting his accusation to Facebook saying they’d experienced similar

He said: ‘It’s been going on for over 30 years. Most of these people were young theater artists trying to find their way through their theatrical career and a person in a very great authority position of directing them and deciding who gets paid and who gets the job [was] interfering in people’s lives.’ 

KC Comeaux, another actor who worked with Church, responded to the allegations with a statement of his own on Facebook. 

He said that while he was in his early 20s Church ‘groomed, abused, and assaulted’ him. 

He called for any further victims to come forward and said that he and ‘countless others’ would support them. 

On Friday, the Coterie announced that it was placing Church on ‘administrative leave’ while an investigation was conducted.  

Another former Coterie performer, Shea Coffman, told The Pitch via email that Church had made ‘a series of unwelcome encounters’ back in 2007. 

KC Comeaux, another actor who worked with Church, responded to the allegations with a statement of his own on Facebook

KC Comeaux, another actor who worked with Church, responded to the allegations with a statement of his own on Facebook

Another former Coterie performer, Shea Coffman, told The Pitch via email that Church had made 'a series of unwelcome encounters' back in 2007

Another former Coterie performer, Shea Coffman, told The Pitch via email that Church had made ‘a series of unwelcome encounters’ back in 2007

Coffman – who was 19 years old at the time – added that he believes he was taken off a production at the theater because he said no to Church’s advances, something several sources The Pitch spoke to said Church did to those who told him no. 

On Saturday, The Coterie Theatre wrote on Facebook that it accepted Church’s resignation but that they would independently investigate. 

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They wrote: ‘We want you to know that we are taking these allegations extremely seriously and will move forward with the investigation immediately, despite the impending holidays.’ 

Church’s biography has since been removed from the theater’s website. 

The Pitch reported that a complaint had been filed against Church, alleging that he’d used the Coterie Theatre’s Instagram account to send sexually explicit messages.

By the time the theater made its statement, police had found the longtime leader at the Coterie dead at his home in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve

By the time the theater made its statement, police had found the longtime leader at the Coterie dead at his home in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve

The outlet editorializes that they found it ‘difficult to believe that Coterie’s board has not been made aware of their artistic director’s accused actions in the past.’ 

The complaint adds that Church continually made staffers uncomfortable and that there was a lack of oversight against him.  

By the time the theater made its statement, police had found the longtime leader at the Coterie dead in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve. 

Kansas City police received a call of a dead body at around 1:42 p.m. Saturday. EMS responded and pronounced Church dead.  

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