COFFEY COUNTY – On Wednesday night, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a Kansas wrestling coach and teacher for sex crimes.
On Feb. 13, at approximately 7:15 p.m., KBI agents arrested Michael Vander Linden, 31, of Burlington, Kansas, at 401 N. 12th St., in Burlington. He was arrested on a warrant for eight counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Vander Linden is employed as a teacher and wrestling coach at Burlington High School.
In June 2022, the KBI initiated an investigation after the Coffey County Sheriff’s Office took a report from a former student of Vander Linden’s who reported a sexual relationship that took place in 2012 and 2013, when she was a sophomore and Vander Linden was a student teacher. The investigation led to a second former student who reported she also had sexual intercourse with Vander Linden on multiple occasions in 2013, when she was 15-years-old.
After the arrest, Vander Linden was booked into the Coffey County Jail.
Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to call the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME. Victims of crime can also submit tips online at https://www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.
All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The investigation is ongoing. No further information will be released at this time.
