Substitute teacher accused of watching porn in Evanston classroom

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Saturday, January 9, 2016
Substitute teacher accused of watching porn in classroom
Police are investigating a teacher accused of watching pornography in a classroom full of sixth graders.

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- A substitute teacher is accused of inappropriate behavior while in a classroom. Sixth grader Genevieve Adams spoke to ABC7 with her mother about what she witnessed at Haven Middle School in Evanston.

Police are investigating the teacher, who's accused of watching pornography in a classroom full of sixth graders.

Genevieve, 12, said it happened as students were busy doing a science lab and the substitute teacher was at a desk watching something on his laptop.

"He would say like, 'Wait over there. Don't come near me.' And then he would turn down the volume or something, click out of something, and then turn the computer away, so we wouldn't see. And then he would say, 'Now come in,'" Genevieve said.

She said a classmate got close enough to see the computer screen.

"She started turning red and getting really worried, and then she ran over to me because I'm one of her close friends, and she said, 'He's watching some really inappropriate stuff, and I don't think it's okay,'" Adams said.

But it didn't stop there, she said. The teacher began acting strangely.

"'Making out with himself' is what Genevieve told me, that was the quote," said Alexis Adams, Genevieve's mother.

Genevieve and her classmates later notified another teacher.

The principal emailed parents, saying: "...the substitute was immediately removed from the classroom. No students were involved and all students are safe."

"Extremely sick. Extremely sick," Alexis Adams said.

"He shouldn't be a sub, and he should be getting better instead of teaching," Genevieve Adams said.

Administrators said they immediately contacted police.

Investigators said the teacher denied that it was porn on his computer, but police said they have his laptop and are continuing to investigate.