Former Teacher's Aide Found With Child Pornography: Prosecutors

NORTHFIELD, IL — A former kindergarten teaching assistant at Sunset Ridge District 29 was arrested Thursday morning on two counts of possession of child pornography, authorities said. The investigation began in February with a tip to Northfield police, and the teacher's aide resigned shortly after admitting to investigators that he "likes teenage girls" and had viewed dozens of images and videos of child pornography since taking a job with Middlefork Elementary School last year, according to prosecutors.

George Gemeinhardt, 64, of the 500 block of Happ Road, Northfield, appeared at a bond hearing Friday afternoon in Skokie on one count of possession of child pornography, a class 3 felony, and one count of possession of child pornography of a child under 13, a class 2 felony, which is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Cook County Circuit Judge Anjana Hansen ordered Gemeinhardt held in lieu of the $3,000 cash portion of his bond. Police said the investigation was ongoing. He was also ordered not to have any contact with anyone under 18 and forbidden from using the internet or cell phones or leaving the county during the case.

Prosecutors said police got a tip that a person at Gemeinhardt's address had uploaded child pornography using the Bing search engine. During an interview on March 19, Gemeinhardt admitted to investigators from the Northfield Police Department that he has viewed images of underage girls online and worked as a teacher's aide at a middle school.

Gemeinhardt signed a form providing police with consent to search his computer and laptop that same day, according to prosecutors. Later that evening, he asked to speak with police at the station, signed a waiver of his Miranda rights and confessed viewing between 30 and 40 images and 10 to 12 videos of child pornography, starting in late 2018. An analysis of his computer confirmed 9 images of child pornography, most of which were of children under the age of 13, prosecutors told the judge.

District 29 Superintendent Edward Stange sent a letter to parents Friday explaining the district had asked district officials not to disclose the investigation to parents or other staff until after charges were filed. The superintendent said Gemeinhardt resigned three days after prosecutors said he confessed to police.

His resignation letter, dated March 22, reads:

To whom it may concern,

Please accept this letter as my resignation from employment with Sunset Ridge District 29. Effective immediately on 3/22/2019 at 9:10 a.m.

George K. Gemeinhardt

The school board's minutes show the district accepted approved Gemeinhardt's hiring at its Sept. 11, 2018, meeting and accepted his resignation on March 22.

The pay rate for substitute teachers like Gemeinhardt in District 29 is $105 daily, according to Stange, and the rate for teaching assistants is $21,800 annually.

Gemeinhardt's personnel file has no letters of reprimand or disciplinary notes, Stange told Patch.

Gemeinhardt is due back in court in Skokie on Oct. 3.