A physical education teacher and girls’ cross country coach at Urbana’s University High School has been arrested on federal child pornography charges. Fifty-six year old Douglas O. Mynatt of Savoy made his initial court appearance Friday afternoon via video-conference before U.S. Magistrate Jonathan E. Hawley.
Mynatt waived his preliminary and detention hearings and was ordered to remain in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The public is reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The affidavit filed in court alleges that on numerous dates in January of this year, Mynatt distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography including minor girls as young as six to nine years old. The affidavit alleges Mynatt used 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.
Champaign County Sheriff’s Police received a Cyber-tip referral made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to the Internet Crimes Against Children division of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Urbana Police also assisted in the investigation which is on-going. Anyone with information that might help in that investigation is asked to call the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office.
