The Libertyville Elementary District 70 school board is set to make a decision on Tuesday to get rid of a long-time Highland Middle School teacher who’s currently sitting in jail while he waits to face trial over allegations that he secretly recorded some of his students and then used a computer to make some pretty disturbing images of them.
Superintendent Rebecca Jenkins sent a letter to the parents on Friday, letting them know she’s recommending that the board let go of 44 year old Marshall Sheffer – a guy who’s been with the district for 18 years – who right now is being held in jail as he awaits his day in court over charges of making kiddie porn involving kids under 13.
The meeting is scheduled for 6pm on Tuesday at the Educational Resource Center which is located at 1381 Lake St in Libertyville and the whole thing is going to be livestreamed on d70schools.org
The charges
Sheffer of Libertyville was taken into custody on the 3rd of July on eight counts of child pornography. The investigation kicked off back in June, and officials have been saying pretty much ever since that he is in big trouble. Two of the counts are Class X felonies (the worst kind of felony short of murder in Illinois) and six are Class 1 felonies, which are still pretty serious.
Sheffer was a teacher at Highland Middle School for 18 years, giving social studies to all his eager students. His teaching days came to a screeching halt, though, when kids started reporting to their teachers that he was secretly video recording them. Investigators got their hands on his phone and a look at it revealed all sorts of images of students – but these weren’t just ordinary photos. They’d been tinkered with by an AI app to make them look a heck of a lot worse, according to a joint release from the Lake County state’s attorney and the Libertyville police.
The investigation continued with additional devices recovered from his home – all of which were snatched up for further examination before they decided to go ahead and slap him with charges. Investigators also said they found altered images of students 12 to 14 years old – and that this AI app was no big mystery, since it had been found on the phone. Sheffer admitted to taking a picture of a classroom activity on the 3rd of June but claimed he’d erased it and he had some pretty weak excuses for why he had his phone out while snapping photos of students. He said he’d been using it to take pictures of his own kid’s diabetes but that sounded like a pretty flimsy reason to us.
A search warrant was executed on Sheffers place while he was at home – with the help of some electronic detection dogs named Grip and Enzo. Seizing some more images and all sorts of other evidence they could find.
Detained pending trial
A Lake County judge ordered Sheffer detained July 6 while he awaits trial, saying there was no other way to prevent him from continuing similar behavior. He had been in custody since surrendering to police the previous Friday. The judge called the case “children’s worst nightmare.”
“Any time somebody betrays the community in that way, it can have a very deep impact. We know that people are in pain today,” said Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart.
District response
Jenkins said students came forward to Highland Middle School administrators on June 3 — the second-to-last day of school — reporting inappropriate photos and videos taken in Sheffer’s classroom that afternoon. The school notified police and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Sheffer was removed from the classroom and placed on administrative leave that day, Jenkins wrote.
“Law enforcement has also advised that additional victims may be identified as the investigation continues,” Jenkins wrote in her most recent letter.
The district is making support resources available to students, and administrators and the board are reviewing district policy on staff use of personal technology during the school day, Jenkins said.
