A former Joliet elementary school custodian will be on home confinement as he awaits trial on child pornography charges, a Will County judge ruled Thursday.
Jeremy Ledesma, 23, was arrested last week following a monthslong investigation that started with a cyber tip in May from Snapchat. On Thursday, Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak denied a motion to detain Ledesma as he awaits trial. She agreed to his release from the county jail and placed him on electronic home monitoring.
Ledesma is charged with possession of child pornography with the intent to deliver, according to court records. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
He was placed on paid leave from his job in October and terminated during Wednesday’s school board meeting.
“I hope this termination vote reassures you that Mr. Ledesma will not set foot on district property ever again,” Joliet Elementary School District 86 board President Jesse Smith told parents at the meeting. “The safety of our students and staff is always our number one priority.”
District officials said Ledesma, whose salary was $42,170, was hired by the district in 2022 and passed all required state and FBI criminal background checks. The Plainfield man worked at Eisenhower Academy and Keith Elementary School. District officials stressed the charges do not involve any criminal conduct on school property and that they have cooperated with investigators.
According to court documents, Will County sheriff’s investigators executed a search warrant in September and recovered images and a video involving young children exposing themselves. Investigators also recovered emails from Snapchat related to Ledesma violating guidelines regarding child sexual abuse materials.
Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Capelli sought pre-trial detention Thursday noting investigators recovered videos of students playing on the playground at Eisenhower Academy on Ledesma’s phone. Though those videos did not contain any sexually explicit material, Capelli argued they showed Ledesma posed a risk to students.
Ledesma’s attorney, Kristine Honiotes, said including the latter videos in their argument was “inflammatory.” She also argued it was “disingenuous” to portray Ledesma as a threat to students given that he was not arrested until Jan. 8, even though investigators were first notified of the images in May.
“It’s disingenuous to say he’s a threat when he’s been allowed to be out while he’s been under investigation since September,” she said.
Ledesma is scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 4.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/15/joliet-school-custodian-child-pornography/
