A district judge sentenced a former elementary school teacher to 10 years’ imprisonment after he admitted to soliciting child sexual abuse material from minors.
Jonathan Villmer Jr, 26 of New Baden, Illinois was charged by criminal complaint in August of 2023. Villmer will be required to register as a sex offender and serve an additional 7 years on supervised release upon his release from prison. Prior to his indictment, Villmer taught first grade at New Baden Elementary School and coached both girls’ and boys’ junior high sports teams.
The case was initiated by an otherwise unrelated investigation by the Carmi Police Department regarding the distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The investigation led law enforcement officers to a Snapchat account soliciting sexually explicit images and videos from minors that was connected to Villmer.
According to court documents, after obtaining a search warrant for Villmer’s Snapchat account, police discovered explicit conversations with a 13-year-old minor. His victims were generally 13-14 year old females.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with support from the New Baden and Carmi Police Departments, and the Jefferson County and Clinton County Sheriffs’ Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Burns prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
