Downers Grove high school track coach faces child pornography charges
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Downers Grove South High School assistant track coach is facing child pornography charges, accused of using messaging apps to get explicit photos and videos from girls from out of state.
Federal prosecutors have charged 46-year-old Glen Clifford Messmer with possession of child pornography.
The school said no students are believed to be his victims.
When interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations, Messmer admitted asking 30 to 60 underage girls for nude photos via Snapchat, and receiving pictures from nearly all of them.
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at his parents' home in Darien, where he has lived for the past five years. Inside, agents would find multiple files on a desktop computer, inside an office Messmer used.
The files contained images of child pornography from the internet. Messmer also admitted he knew the minor in one of the files was younger than 16.
In a complaint, Messmer is also accused of using the apps Telegram and Snapchat to solicit girls as young as 14 out of state to create sexually explicit photos and videos for him, providing scripts for them to follow, and paying them using CashApp and Venmo.
Some of the files discovered in the home were labeled PTHC, meaning "pre-teen hard core." One image showed a 4-year-old child performing a sex act on a man. Other images showed that same child crying.
John Whitehead has a son who is a senior at Downers Grove South. He called the charges against Messmer "very horrible."
"This school is very good at communicating anything that's going on inside of it, so it was good to know; but, like I said, I hope everything works out for everybody," he said.
Messmer worked part-time as an assistant girls' track coach at Downers Grove South High School for almost two years. He resigned from the position on Tuesday, the same day agents found child pornography in the Darien home where he was living.
Downers Grove South parent Arnold Pagaduan said it shines a bad light on the school.
"I think so. I think so, and because of that, they should also protect the students that are too young right now," he said.
District 99 Superintendent Dr. Hank Thiele said in a statement that Messmer also volunteered as a track coach during the 2019-2020 school year at both Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North. Messmer passed a background check before he interacted with any District 99 student.
Messmer is now in federal custody, and has a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
