A former New Baden teacher has been sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for soliciting child pornography.
After being released, Jonathan C. Villmer Jr., 26, will be placed on supervised release for seven years. He also has to forfeit two Apple iPhones and pay a $300 fine and $100 special assessment.
He was charged in August 2023 and pleaded guilty in January.
The case was initiated by an otherwise unrelated investigation by police in Carmi, which is just west of Evansville, Indiana.
Through a search warrant, investigators there accessed the Snapchat account of one of Villmer’s alleged victims, a 13-year-old girl, and discovered a series of sexually explicit conversations. A user named “tom_pollack” initiated those conversations, which included discussions about having sex, a request for the girl’s “sexiest images” and, eventually, photographs of her genitals.
Police traced the IP address on the “tom_pollack,” account back to Villmer, the court documents state.
On Aug. 18, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Villmer’s New Baden residence and seized two cellphones and other electronic devices. Villmer was arrested on the scene. Villmer admitted that he received topless pictures of the 13-year-old, then threatened to share that image with others if she didn’t send him more, the complaint stated.
“Villmer described the ‘thrill of the chase’ when requesting sexually explicit images from minors because of the difficulty of obtaining” them, according to the federal criminal complaint.
Prior to being charged, Villmer taught first grade at New Baden Elementary School and coached girls’ sports teams at Wesclin District 3.
In a statement to parents at the time, Wesclin Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw said Villmer was placed on “indefinite administrative leave.” Law enforcement at the time found no information suggesting that any current or former Wesclin student were involved, she said, nor that any of the alleged activity took place with district equipment.