Iowa aide fired after reporting opioid scheme

ELDORA, Iowa (AP) — A secretary at Iowa’s school for juvenile offenders has been fired after using her job to purchase pain pills from a former student who she says demanded payments to keep quiet about the transaction.

Disciplinary and unemployment records show that Kelly Reed lost her 19-year job at the State Training School for Boys in Eldora in March after reporting the alleged blackmail scheme to the institution and police.

She alleges the former student threatened that, if he wasn’t paid monthly, he would tell the school and news reporters of the illegal purchase she made last year when she was desperate to relieve back pain.

The Division of Criminal Investigation and the county attorney are now investigating the purchase of pills, which occurred off school grounds, and the alleged threats and payments that came afterward