Bond was set at $150,000 this morning for a former Naperville North High School employee accused of possessing child pornography.
Jelani McClain, 23, of Lisle is a former Husky assistant boys basketball coach who has been charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography, a class 2 felony.
“As I have said many times in the past, child pornography is not a victimless crime,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin via a press release. “Each one of these disgusting images represents yet another victim of child pornography. The charges filed against Mr. McClain today sends the message that my office will aggressively pursue child pornographers.”
Charges Not Connected to NNHS
Berlin’s statement noted that none of the charges against McClain are connected with his former employment with Naperville North and that school authorities have been cooperative with investigators throughout the entire case.
The Investigation
The Naperville Police Department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with an IP address connected to McClain. Investigators obtained a warrant to search his home on May 12, where they found several images and videos of child pornography. McClain was at home during the search and was taken into custody without incident, per a press release.
“This department will continue to aggressively investigate any reports or instances of crimes against children because to keep kids safe, offenders must be brought to justice,” said Naperville Police Chief Bob Marshall. “In this instance, it was the possession of child pornography, which is a very serious crime. I applaud the efforts of the investigators that were able to put together this case and bring the charges against the defendant.”
Statement from District 203
A press release included a statement from Superintendent of Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Dan Bridges, which read, “The safety and security of students, staff, and our community is of the utmost importance. We are grateful for our partnership with the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Naperville Police Department. We are cooperating fully with the investigation.”
McClain will next appear in court on June 10 for arraignment.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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