EFFINGHAM, Ill. — The Effingham County teacher accused of inappropriately communicating with a student is facing additional charges that allege another serious crime: possessing child pornography.
Effingham County court records show that 10 counts of this crime were filed against Dakota Czerwonka on Feb. 12, about two weeks after he pleaded not guilty to two counts of grooming and sexual exploitation of a child. Those counts are Class 4 felonies, but the child pornography counts Czerwonka is facing are Class 2 felonies.
During a court appearance on Thursday — Czerwonka’s first since the new counts were filed — he waived formal arraignment, pleaded not guilty and requested a trial by jury. It’s identical to what he did on Jan. 29, during a preliminary hearing for his initial two charges.
Czerwonka was arrested in January following an investigation by the Effingham Police Department into a complaint made against him. The founder of and a teacher at Crossroads Montessori School in Effingham, Czerwonka was accused of sending “inappropriate electronic messages” to a student.
Now, he is facing charges of a more serious crime that could send him to prison for decades if convicted. A Class 2 felony is punishable by three to seven years in prison, and in cases involving child pornography, sentences for each count are served consecutively.
Court records show Czerwonka was advised of this during his appearance on Thursday.
He is due to appear in court again on April 9 for a pretrial conference.
According to WCIA, the Effingham County State’s Attorney’s Office is investigating the case but did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.
According to Capitol News Illinois, Czerwonka was previously charged with two counts of grooming and sexual exploitation of a child, both Class 4 felonies.
