Federal prosecutors on Friday formally charged a Chicago Public Schools teacher with receiving and distributing child pornography after they say he used the Telegram app to send and receive sexual images of children.
Jaron Woodsley, 27, a teacher at Robert Fulton Elementary School in the New City neighborhood on the South Side, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez, who ordered him to remain in federal custody until a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
In an unsealed criminal complaint filed Thursday, federal authorities accuse Woodsley of sending at least 13 videos containing child pornography to an unnamed man in Colorado, using the phone application Telegram.
The app encrypts messages so that they are only available on the devices from which they were sent or received. In the complaint, FBI Special Agent Meghan Crooks called Telegram “an ideal platform for individuals engaged in the receipt, and distribution of child pornography.”
One of the videos Woodsley allegedly sent was footage of the message recipient sexually abusing a child estimated to be about 3 years old. Woodsley messaged the Colorado man, “I’ll definitely be down to join you,” referring to the child abuse, according to the complaint.
The Colorado man allegedly sent six videos back to Woodsley. Their alleged Telegram conversation also indicated that Woodsley was receiving videos from other app users.
In addition to his teaching career, Woodsley, who lives with his husband in the Oakland neighborhood, is a staff member at the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. In a statement Friday evening, Jennie Oh Brown, executive director of the orchestra, called the allegations against the employee that she didn’t name “abhorrent and vile and completely inconsistent with both CYSO policies and the law.”
Woodsley was suspended immediately while the orchestra handles its own investigation, Brown wrote, adding that there was no reason to believe any of the orchestra’s children were affected. “CYSO staff and community are deeply disheartened by this situation, and we will cooperate fully with appropriate authorities,” she said.
CPS officials said they removed Woodsley from teaching after they were notified of his arrest on Friday.
“Upon learning of the teacher’s arrest, the District immediately removed this individual from their position and the Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation, according to the statement. “CPS will not hesitate to terminate an employee under established District policies and procedures.”
“Both positions put Woodsley in a position of trust with children and provide him frequent access to children,” Crooks, who investigates child exploitation, wrote in her complaint.
Woodsley’s husband declined to comment.
If Woodsley is convicted, he will face a sentence between five and 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
