Waukegan High School Teacher Arrested For Child Porn, Suspended
GURNEE, Ill. (CBS) -- A Waukegan High School teacher has been suspended, amid accusations of that he possessed child pornography.
Gurnee Police arrested 54-year-old Francisco Garcia-Almolda at home, and seized two computer towers, a laptop, several hard drives, flash drives, CDs and DVDs. Police are analyzing them.
Garcia-Almolda has been charged with three counts of possessing child pornography.
Police Cmdr. Jay Patrick, in a statement, said that Garcia-Almolda had been under investigation for a month, after receiving information that he had child pornography on a computer at his home.
Waukegan Public School District 60 immediately suspended Garcia-Almolda, who taught Spanish-speaking students in their native language and issued a statement saying scans of his work computers show nothing illicit.
If true, said District 60 Supt. Condaldo Batiste, "These alleged, illicit actions are reprehensible and will not be tolerated, whether they occur in our schools or away."
Batiste said "the district will continue to do everything in our power to weed out these individuals and maintain the integrity of a safe and secure environment for our students."
Garcia-Almolda appeared before a Lake County judge Tuesday, who set bond at $50,000 cash.
Garcia-Almolda's girlfriend is also a teacher, but police said they have no indication she knew of any illicit activity or files, or had any involvement with it. She was not charged.
