Updated 9/27/11
A LaGrange Park man who works part time at Lyons Township High School was arrested Thursday and charged with transporting child pornography, which could result in 5-20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 if he’s convicted.
FBI agents raided the home of Nathan Arger, 32, on Sept. 22 and reportedly recovered more than 1,000 images and videos depicting child pornography from his computer’s hard drive.
Included in the images were ones that allegedly showed Arger with two different prepubescent girls, one of whom was nude from the waist down, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District court.
According to a press release issued by the FBI on Friday morning, Arger works part time at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange as a non-faculty staff member of the school’s radio and television stations. He has been employed for one year.
The FBI said in the statement that “there are no allegations that he engaged in any illegal activity involving students or the school’s technology equipment.”
According to Jennifer Bialobok, community relations coordinator for LTHS, Arger has been placed on unpaid leave pending the conclusion of the federal investigation. In addition, she said, Arger’s access to the district’s technology has been disabled and he is prohibited from entering any district facilities “as a precautionary measure.”
“We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously, and the school is cooperating fully with the LaGrange Park Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” said District 204 Superintendent Timothy Kilrea in a press release. “Our attention is focused on the welfare of our students, and all parents have been contacted.”
Arger appeared before a federal judge on Thursday and was ordered held in federal custody until a court hearing scheduled Tuesday afternoon after press time.
According to the federal complaint, an undercover FBI agent who is a member of its Innocent Images Task Force signed into a peer-to-peer network and found someone using the screen name “Mrdrizzle420” logged in on the network.
The agent browsed Mrdrizzle420’s directories and downloaded more than 700 images and 12 videos from Mrdrizzle420’s computer, according to the complaint. “All of the images depicted child pornography,” said the complaint, including images of “children engaged in explicit sexual activity with adults and the lascivious exhibition of children’s genitalia.”
The FBI tracked down Arger’s address using phone records, and agents raided Arger’s home on Sept. 22, seizing his computer, a Netbook and multiple external hard drives.
