Crime & Safety
Plainfield North Coach Facing Child Porn Charges
Max Estes is barred from having contact with anyone under age 18, or from using a cell phone or the Internet.
A first-year Plainfield North High School teacher and wrestling coach was being held on $300,000 bail at the Cook County jail Thursday on child pornography charges, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Max Estes, 26, was arrested Wednesday, a day after police executed a search warrant at his home in the 600 block of North Bishop Street in Chicago. A search of his laptop revealed numerous photos and videos of children engaged in sex acts, according to the Trib. The investigation was conducted by the Cook County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force after information came to light that Estes was sharing child porn online, according to prosecutors. Click here to read the full Tribune report. Estes is charged with two counts of possession of child porn.
District 202 Director of Community Relations Tom Hernandez said Estes was a first-year teacher and wrestling coach at PNSH last year. Estes is listed as a wrestling coach and intro to computer tech, entrepreneurship, publishing and game design teacher on the Plainfield North website.
"At this point, the district has not received any information that District 202 students are involved in any way," Hernandez said of the charges against Estes. He said district officials are consulting with legal counsel regarding the situation.
Pending the results of the investigation and the charges against the teacher, Hernandez said Estes will not have any contact with District 202 students.
A Cook County judge also banned Estes from having contact with anyone under age 18 and from using the Internet or a cell phone, should he post bond and be released.
Hernandez said Estes passed all required background checks prior to starting work in District 202.
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