Ex-District 203 Employee Charged With Child Pornography Possession

NAPERVILLE, IL — A former paraprofessional for Naperville Community Unit School District 203 faces felony charges after police say he was found possessing child pornography.

Jeffrey Wickman, 33, of the 25W200 block of Concord Road in Naperville, was charged with four counts of possession of child pornography following an investigation by the Naperville Police Department.

Police launched the investigation after getting a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an IP address that may have been involved with child pornography. After investigators executed a search warrant on Wickman's Google Drive account, they reported finding child pornography.

On Nov. 1, officers executed a search warrant at Wickman's residence. Prosecutors say investigators found child pornography images cached on Wickman's electronic devices at this time.

A warrant was issued for Wickman's arrest on Nov. 15. He turned himself in to police on Nov. 18 and was released after posting bond.

The conditions of Wickman's bond prohibit him from:

• Having contact with any minor under the age of 18
• Entering any District 203 buildings or grounds
• Consuming controlled substances (cannabis included)
• Possessing firearms, ammunitions, parts or a FOID card

Per the bond conditions, Wickman must also stay at least 1000 feet from parks and schools and have monitoring software installed on his electronic devices.

Regarding the charges against Wickman, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release,

"Child pornography is vile, abusive to thousands of young children and is not a victimless crime with each one of these disgusting images representing yet another victim."

He added, “The charges filed against Mr. Wickman sends the message that law enforcement in DuPage County will aggressively and proactively pursue child pornographers wherever they may lurk. I want to stress however, that these charges are in no way connected with Mr. Wickman’s association with Naperville School District 203."

District 203 spokesperson Alexander Mayster said Wickman was placed on administrative leave as soon as district officials became aware of the child pornography investigation.

Mayster said, in a statement,"Naperville 203 has, and will continue to, work closely with the Naperville Police Department and DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin’s office on this case. Immediately after learning of the investigation, the employee was placed on administrative leave and has not been in contact with students. The charges filed do not involve Naperville 203 students."

Wickman is set to be arraigned on Feb. 8.