Former Walker teacher faces federal child porn charges
A former Chattanooga Valley Elementary School teacher, investigated by Georgia authorities in 2016 for allegations of child molestation, was arrested in Alabama last week by federal authorities for allegedly producing child pornography in the late 1990s.
Here is a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Northern District in Alabama:
“A 54-year-old Muscle Shoals, Alabama resident was arrested on September 27, on a federal criminal complaint charging him with producing child pornography, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town of the Northern District of Alabama.
“According to the complaint affidavit, between Aug. 1, 1997, and Oct. 15, 1998, Charles Mark McCormack used a minor, born in or about 1992, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography, by surreptitiously videotaping the minor urinating in a bathroom in his residence.
“The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
“The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this case with the cooperation of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune of the Northern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.
“This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.”
May 2016 investigation
Walker County Sheriff’s Department records show that McCormack was under investigation in May 2016 after being accused of child molestation in the past,
McCormack had been investigated twice before May 2016 for crimes involving children, but there was never enough evidence to prosecute the teacher, Wilson said.
On May 25, 2010, a Chattanooga Valley Elementary student’s mother said her child told her that McCormack had called the child to his desk. The parent alleged the teacher then allowed her youngster to play a game on his computer while he used his phone’s camera to take photographs under her dress.
Due to a lack of physical evidence, the sheriff and local district attorney did not prosecute McCormack for sexual exploitation of a minor and he was allowed to continue teaching.
In January 2015, McCormack was again investigated, this time for child molestation, but, again, physical evidence was insufficient to proceed with criminal prosecution and the case was dropped.
McCormack did not return to the classroom following the May 2016 investigation and his contract to teach in Walker County was not renewed.
Current investigation
Reporter Lauren Scharf of WAFF-TV 48 News in Huntsville, Ala., reported McCormack’s arrest followed the discovery of his possessing an 8mm video tape that showed a young child’s genitals.
That discovery led to an affidavit filed by Homeland Security stating “Charles Mark McCormack is under investigation for sexual exploitation that occurred between August 1, 1997 and October 15, 1998.
“In September 2016, federal authorities received the video. Special Agents state McCormack can be heard adjusting the camera and speaking to the child before she entered the bathroom. According to investigators, the child in the video was wearing a t-shirt from a Colbert County school.
“Investigators say they have found the child from the video and the alleged victim, now an adult, confirms they were the child in the video.
“McCormack will remain in federal custody until his detention hearing. That hearing is scheduled for October 2.”