A former CPS teacher charged with distribution of child pornography last week appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday and was ordered detained until his trial.
Jaron Woodsley was ordered to remain in custody by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Weisman on the basis that a third party custodian would not be able to ensure Woodsley could no longer access the internet.
Public defender Seema Ahmad, representing Woodsley, argued there is no statute demanding people accused of internet-based crimes must be detained before trial. Weisman agreed with her legal argument, he said, but found that the specific circumstances of Woodsley’s case necessitated his detention.
Admad implied that Woodsley’s alleged crimes were the result of a “compulsion” and perhaps a mental illness. He also has no criminal history prior to this case, she said.
“I’m just getting to know Mr. Woodsley,” Ahmad said, “but it’s becoming clear that (his alleged compulsion is) the product of extreme abuse.”
In his decision, however, Weisman underscored the fact that Woodsley had chosen a profession that put him in close proximity to children, something he could control even if he could not control his alleged compulsion.
Woodsley, 27, was a teacher at Robert Fulton Elementary School in the New City neighborhood on the South Side until his arrest.
“He is well educated, he has two degrees (and) he has chosen to engage in a profession that surrounded himself with potential victims of what he must understand to be an alleged addiction, affliction, compulsion,” Weisman said.
Ahmad also told the court that Woodsley’s husband was willing to offer the equity of his and Woodsley’s shared condo in exchange for pre-trial release, and was willing to cut off internet access.
But Weisman echoed the prosecution’s argument that Woodsley had allegedly been successful at deceiving his husband, who told federal authorities he did not know about the alleged possession and distribution of child porn. Woodsley’s alleged crimes took place while he lived in the same household as recently as the night before his August 1 arrest, prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Nutini, representing the government, said the family that lived above Woodsley included a 3-year-old child, which was of particular concern given the nature of the accusations against the defendant. The condo Woodsley owns with his husband is part of a complex that houses other families with young children, Nutini added.
“The access and opportunity to access children that he possesses distinguishes him from the ordinary defendant or individual charged with these offenses,” Nutini said, referring to Woodsley’s former positions as an elementary school teacher and a staff member at the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Six people — including his mother, aunt and husband — attended Woodsley’s hearing in what Ahmad said was a show of support.