Overview

• Jaron Woodsley, a 27-year-old Robert Fulton Elementary School teacher and part-time Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra staffer, was arrested Friday after a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court charged him with receiving and distributing child pornography via Telegram.
• Federal authorities say Woodsley exchanged at least 13 illicit videos with a Colorado suspect over four days last September using the encrypted app, leveraging data Telegram began sharing with law enforcement in September 2024.
• In his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez, Woodsley was ordered to remain in custody ahead of a preliminary hearing set for Tuesday.
• If convicted under federal child pornography statutes, Woodsley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to 20 years at maximum.
• Chicago Public Schools immediately removed Woodsley from his teaching duties and opened an Office of Inspector General investigation, and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra suspended him while conducting its own review.