Feds allege former high school teacher had sex with underage boy for months

A suburban high school science teacher had been sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy for months when she allegedly confided with a student that she was disgusted by her own conduct, according to federal prosecutors.

“It’s horrible. (I) can go to jail," Dayna Chidester texted to a student at her school, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Chicago.

Chidester, 51, was arrested by FBI agents Wednesday morning on a charge alleging she had sex with the boy at her home, her car and in suburban hotels between September and December 2018. The sexual abuse of a minor charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison if convicted.

A former teacher at Reed-Custer High School in far south suburban Braidwood, Chidester had been free on a $1 million bond on sex abuse charges filed in Will County in January stemming from the same investigation. The state charges were dropped Wednesday.

At a brief hearing at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Chidester appeared to be near tears as prosecutors asked that she be held without bond, arguing she poses a flight risk and a danger to the community.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier set a detention hearing for Friday afternoon. She will remain in custody until then.

According to the 13-page criminal complaint, authorities in Will County were alerted in December that a Reed-Custer student had been exchanging texts with Chidester about her sexual relationship with the victim, who did not attend the school.

After identifying the alleged victim, Will County investigators searched his cellphone and found nude photos of Chidester as well as more than 9,000 text messages between the two beginning last September, according to the complaint.

The two also exchanged hundreds of phone calls over the same time frame, prosecutors alleged.

In a videotaped interview on Jan. 2, the alleged victim told investigators he had engaged in sex with Chidester “15-20 times" and that both had exchanged sexually explicit photos of themselves, the complaint alleged.

The boy said Chidester had also purchased him gifts, “including a robe and a longboard skate board,” the complaint said.

Chidester was arrested the next day and admitted in a video-recorded statement that she had sex with the victim, the complaint alleged.

Chidester worked at Thornwood High School in South Holland before joining the staff at Reed-Custer, where she taught consumer and family science, according to prosecutors.



Source:https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-suburban-teacher-federal-sex-charges-20190925-aijhddzwq5f5fg4hiheqhvjofe-story.html