ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - An Illinois teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to soliciting child sexual abuse charges by asking minors to send explicit images to him on Snapchat.
Jonathan C. Villmer, Jr., 25, of New Baden, Illinois, plead guilty to soliciting child sexual abuse material from minors in Illinois federal court Thursday. Villmer was a first-grade teacher at New Baden Elementary School along with being a girls’ sports teams coach for Wesclin Community Unit School District 3.
The case was initiated by an otherwise unrelated investigation by the Carmi Police Department regarding the distribution of child sexual abuse materials (CASM). The investigation led law enforcement officers to discover a Snapchat account soliciting CSAM connected to Villmer.
After obtaining a search warrant for Villmer’s Snapchat, police discovered he explicit conversations with a 13-year-old minor. Among the demands, he asked the minor for the “sexiest images,” discussed having sex and taking the minor’s virginity, and requested photographs of her genitals.
Police also found that Villmer had conversations with more than one minor, requesting explicit images on his Snapchat account.
Villmer’s sentencing is scheduled for April 24 and he could face anywhere between five to 20 years in prison.