Teacher accused of masturbating in class was caught with his pants unzipped, parent says

(CBS/WBBM) SCHAUMBURG, Ill. - The mother of a former student of Paul LaDuke, the Christian school teacher fired and charged with a felony for allegedly masturbating behind a podium during class, says she previously saw LaDuke walking around with his pants unzipped.

Last Friday, a student at Schaumburg Christian School, where LaDuke has taught for 26 years, told another teacher that she thought LaDuke was masturbating while sitting at his podium during class, reports CBS Chicago. That teacher reportedly notified the administration, which launched an investigation. LaDuke was fired, and school officials called police on Monday.

Police say the 75-year-old LaDuke, a math teacher and ordained minister, may have been engaging in similar activity for more than a decade, 

"For a school that has such a strict by law and will paddle children for their misbehavior - this is how strict they are - it's really, really sickening," said the mother of a former student, CBS Chicago reports.

The woman said she recalls running into LaDuke in a hallway at the school several years ago, CBS Chicago reports. His zipper, she says, was wide open and she said, "Mr. LaDuke, XYZ."

"And he didn't seem to realize what XYZ represented, so I said to him 'Mr. LaDuke, your pants are open,' and he looked down, and he immediately zipped his pants," she reportedly said.

She thinks there was another similar incident as well, according to WBBM.

"It just really all makes sense now," she said.

Detectives interviewed several students and arrested LaDuke Monday. He is charged with sexual exploitation of a child.

In court on Wednesday, a prosecutor told the judge that the state has a handwritten note from LaDuke in which he admits that he has fantasized about female students while masturbating in class for the past 10 years.

Bond for LaDuke was set at $40,000 at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse Wednesday morning.

If he makes bond, La Duke will not be allowed on school grounds.

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November 16, 2011 - Ill. math teacher Paul LaDuke charged with masturbating in class