A teacher at a suburban Christian school has been charged with a felony, after he was fired for allegedly masturbating behind a podium while teaching class. [source]
As CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov reports, Schaumburg police said he might have been doing it for the past 10 years or more
And in court Wednesday, a Cook County assistant state’s attorney told the judge that prosecutors have a handwritten note from LaDuke, in which he admits to fantasizing about female students while masturbating in class for the past 10 years.
Paul LaDuke, 75, has been charged with sexual exploitation of a child. LaDuke has been a math teacher at the school for 26 years, and is also an ordained minister.
Bond for LaDuke was set at $40,000 at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse Wednesday morning.
On Friday, a student at Schaumburg Christian School, located at 200 N. Roselle Rd., reported to another teacher that LaDuke appeared to be masturbating while seated at his podium during class.
The teacher notified the school administration, which launched an internal investigation. LaDuke was fired on Friday and, on Monday, school officials contacted Schaumburg police.
“Obviously, she was distressed and upset by what occurred, but we’re very thankful that she brought it forward,” said Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebel.
Detectives interviewed several students and LaDuke was arrested on Monday.
“Through the course of our investigation, our detectives have come to believe that this has happened several times per year for 10 years or more, possibly,” Nebel said.
Asked if there had been previous complaints that did not result in any action against LaDuke, Nebel said no.
“It’s not that it’s been reported and nothing has been done, it’s just that during the course of the investigation, we’ve come to learn certain information and I can’t go further for the fact that there’s a possibility of more charges before a grand jury,” Nebel said. He made those comments before prosecutors revealed the note from LaDuke.
Police said there is no evidence that LaDuke touched any students in an inappropriate manner or harmed them physically.
Students and parents were stunned, and still want to know more about what happened.
“I understand there’s an issue that he did something he shouldn’t have done, in terms of behind the podium – whether it was adjusting his shirt or whatnot – but I know that the school did what it had needed to do,” said Daniel Csoka, the father of a student at the school. “I mean, just look at Penn State. Look at school after school having situations. But I believe that the officials and the administration did what they needed to do. I’m not concerned about my child.”
School administrator Jim Toth said the school took action as quickly as it could.
“We are shocked. We are saddened by what has transpired over the last few days. As soon as we started to receive information, we reacted as quickly as we possibly could,” Toth said. “We are fully cooperating with Schaumburg Police Department at this time, as they continue their investigation.”
LaDuke taught Algebra I and Honors Geometry to high school freshmen, Honors Algebra II to sophomores, and Algebra II and Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus to juniors and seniors. His name had been removed from the school’s Web site as of Wednesday morning.
If LaDuke is to make bond, he must come up with 10 percent, or $4,000, to get out of jail, and he will not be allowed on school grounds.
A defense attorney tells CBS 2 that LaDuke may have dementia.
Any current or former students or parents with information on the case were being urged to call Schaumburg police at 847-882-3534.
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