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IMSA Employee Faces Child Porn Charges

CHICAGO (STNG) ― An employee of the Illinois Math and Science Academy, an elite school for the gifted in west suburban Aurora, was charged Thursday with possessing pornographic images of children as young as 3.

Robert Reese, 37, of 810 W. Superior in Ottawa, was arrested late Wednesday at the school by members of the Chicago FBI Innocent Images Task Force.

Reese is charged with one count of possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed against him.

He is accused of possibly purchasing child pornography over the Internet. During a search of his residence, authorities allegedly found a Lexar Jump Drive -- commonly referred to as a "memory stick" -- in Reese's bedroom with more than 200 files containing images of minor females, some believed to be as young as three years old, engaging in sexual acts.

Court papers also allege that Reese admitted to agents when he was interviewed yesterday that on two occasions he molested "Individual A," identified only as a female child between the ages of three and five years old.

School officials indicated that Reese passed a "rigorous" criminal background check at the time he was hired.

IMSA spokesman Glenn "Max" McGee said the daytime custodian had no illegal contact with IMSA students. The federal documents indicate that this criminal activity was conducted at his home.

Reese worked for IMSA for 14 years. "He mostly washed windows, the kids really didn't know him," McGee said.

Reese was placed on administrative leave Wednesday morning after IMSA administration found out about the allegations, McGee said.

Reese, ordered held without bond Thursday, and is being held the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending a detention hearing next week.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

-- Sun-Times and STNGWire

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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