Central Illinois teacher, coach arrested for child pornography

URBANA, Ill. — An Illinois high school teacher, who is also a girls cross-country coach, was arrested Friday and charged with receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, and Urbana Police Department are investigating the case.

Douglas O. Mynatt, 56, of Savoy, Illinois, is employed as a physical education teacher at Urbana’s University High School and serves as coach of the girls cross-country program.

The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that on numerous dates in January 2020, Mynatt distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography including depictions of minor girls between six and nine years old.

According to the affidavit, Mynatt allegedly used Application A, an instant messaging application known for its feature that preserves users’ anonymity but logs IP addresses, to upload and share 15 digital files containing child pornography on five occasions in January 2020.

According to the affidavit, on March 20 the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office received a CyberTip referral made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Application A self-reported to NCMEC that one of its online social media users possessed content believed to be images and movies of child pornography.

Application A reported several IP addresses for logins by the user, identified as Mynatt, including from his home address in Savoy, Illinois and at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Mynatt waived preliminary and detention hearings and was ordered to remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson, Central District of Illinois, is representing the government.

If convicted, Mynatt faces penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

This is an ongoing investigation; anyone with information is encouraged to call the HSI Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or Champaign County Sheriff’s Office at 217-384-1213.

Members of the public are reminded that a complaint is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 25,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child exploitation material, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2019, more than 3,500 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.