Ex-Teacher Recorded Self Masturbating Into Students' Shoes: Cops

GLENDALE HEIGHTS, IL — A Glendale Heights man and former teacher has been sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for possessing child pornography, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. Andrew Clarke, 29, plead guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, a class 2 felony. The State's Attorney's Office said Clarke, who was out on bond after posting $20,000 of his $200,000 bond, was immediately taken into custody following Friday’s court appearance.

Clarke was investigated in January 2016 as part of an ongoing investigation into the possession and dissemination of child pornography. Authorities with the Illinois Children’s Advocacy Centers, with assistance from the Elmhurst and Glendale Heights police departments, identified a computer in DuPage County that was downloading files containing child pornography, the State's Attorney's Office said in a release.

Detectives were led to Clarke, who was discovered to be in possession of images containing child pornography. Authorities also learned during their investigation that while Clarke was employed as a teacher, he videotaped himself masturbating into the shoes of children who were students at the school where he worked. He would then leave the shoes at the school for the children to claim upon their return.

The State's Attorney's Office said of the images Clarke possessed, none of them contained images from children at the school where Clarke was previously employed.

“Child pornography is not a victimless crime and what occurred in this case is beyond disgusting,” State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a release. “Every time one of these images is downloaded or shared on the Internet, child pornography claims another young, innocent victim. To protect these innocent victims, my office stands ready to vigorously prosecute any allegations of child pornography."

“I would like to thank the Elmhurst Police Department as well as the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office for their cooperative efforts in bringing a successful prosecution against this child pornographer,” Glendale Heights Chief of Police Douglas Flint said in a release.

Clarke will be required to serve 50 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. In addition, he will also be required to register for life as a sex offender once he is released. Clarke was sentenced to five years on each count, with the sentences to run consecutively.

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