Former New Baden first-grade teacher pleads guilty in child pornography case
A probe into the distribution of child pornography in a southeastern Illinois town led investigators back to a former first-grade teacher in New Baden.
Jonathan C. Villmer Jr., 25, on Thursday pleaded guilty in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois to soliciting child sexual abuse material from minors via the social media network, Snapchat.
Prior to being charged, Villmer worked at New Baden Elementary School and coached girls sports teams at Wesclin School District 3.
Villmer’s sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on April 24. He faces a sentence of between five and 20 years in a federal prison.
“We know child predators lurk in our communities, but it’s especially disturbing when a former first-grade teacher and coach admits to asking minors for inappropriate images,” said U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said in a news release. “I highly commend the several law enforcement departments who contributed to this investigation and identified an extremely dangerous individual working directly with minors.”
The case was initiated by an otherwise unrelated investigation by police in Carmi, which is just west of Evansville, Indiana. Through a search warrant, investigators there accessed the Snapchat account of one of Villmer’s alleged victims, a 13-year-old girl, and discovered a series of sexually explicit conversations.
A user named “tom_pollack” initiated those conversations, which included discussions about having sex, a request for the girl’s “sexiest images” and, eventually, photographs of her genitals. Police traced the IP address on the “tom_pollack,” account back to Villmer, the court documents state.
On Aug. 18, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Villmer’s New Baden residence and seized two cellphones and other electronic devices. Villmer was arrested on the scene.
Villmer admitted that he received topless pictures of the 13-year-old, then threatened to share that image with others if she didn’t send him more, the complaint stated.
“Villmer described the ‘thrill of the chase’ when requesting sexually explicit images from minors because of the difficulty of obtaining” them, according to the complaint.
Homeland Security Investigations is conducting the investigation with support from the New Baden and Carmi Police Departments, and the Jefferson County and Clinton County Sheriffs’ Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Burns is prosecuting the case.
“The importance of this case and guilty plea cannot be overstated. Investigations involving the exploitation of children are horrible, but it is particularly troubling when the accused occupies a position of public trust and seeks to exploit the most vulnerable in our society,” said Homeland Security Investigations Chicago Special Agent in Charge Sean Fitzgerald. “HSI will continue to work closely with our local, state and federal partners to bring those who would sexually exploit children to justice.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 4:30 PM.