Former Indiana teacher persuaded female students to send him nude photos, authorities say
(CBS/AP) INDIANAPOLIS - A former math teacher at a northwest Indiana high school was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly persuaded several underage girls to send their nude photos to him by cellphone, according to federal court documents.
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Investigators allegedly found hundreds of sexually explicit images on 27-year-old Jon Lilly's computer, including photos of at least four underage girls from the school. He faces a federal charge of possessing visual depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Hammond, less than 20 miles from Chicago.
A federal agent began investigating Lilly in February after the mother of a Morton High School student told Hammond police that she believed Lilly and her 17-year-old daughter were having a sexual relationship.
The girl told investigators she was in Lilly's class last year and exchanged cellphone numbers with him over the summer. She said Lilly helped her with math homework and listened to her personal troubles, eventually becoming one of her best friends. Both she and Lilly said their relationship was purely platonic, but Lilly told investigators he thought the girl might have a crush on him, documents said.
One of the girl's friends told investigators that the 17-year-old admitted that she and Lilly had sex, court documents show. The 17-year-old later told investigators she was having sex with Lilly at his home and texting him nude photos regularly since October 2012. According to the affidavit, the girl told investigators she seduced Lilly and was in love with him.
The document said investigators searched Lilly's cellphone and other devices and found photos of at least four other girls between the ages of 16 and 20 posing nude or in sexual positions. The girls said Lilly had a reputation for flirting with students, and one of the girls told investigators that she sent Lilly a photo after he asked her to send him a picture for his birthday. None of the girls felt they were coerced, the affidavit said.
According to court documents, Lilly's former girlfriend told investigators that he was Facebook friends with several female middle school students when they dated.
Lilly no longer works for the school district. He was disciplined in November 2012 for a related incident that allegedly occurred during lunch hour in his classroom.
He appeared in federal court Wednesday and a detention hearing was scheduled for Friday.
