The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed the necessary court documents needed to detain a Libertyville middle school teacher accused of using artificial intelligence (AI) software to create explicit images of students in his class.
Marshall Sheffer, 44, is now required to appear before a Lake County Judge on Monday afternoon to determine if he should be detained until trial on eight counts of Possession of Child Pornography following a lengthy investigation for videotaping children, then using AI to create those explicit images.
Assistant Lake County States Attorney Liz Cannon filed the required petition to detain Sheffer with Lake County Judge Ruth Lofthouse.
Authorities said Sheffer was taken into custody on Friday following an investigation in June that began when students reported to school staff that they believed the teacher was video recording students.
According to a news release issued by the Libertyville Police and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, Libertyville detectives obtained the defendant’s phone and turned it over to the state’s attorney’s office.
A forensic examination by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Cyber Lab revealed numerous images of students that had been altered using AI to create explicit images, officials said.
As the investigation continued, detectives recovered multiple electronic devices and executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence.
With the assistance of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office’s Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) K9 Grip, and the Sheriff’s Office ESD K9 Enzo, additional explicit child images were seized by law enforcement, officials said.
Following the investigation, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the charges of Possession of Child Pornography.
“This was a highly sensitive, complex and lengthy investigation. Its success relied on the work of our investigators and the close collaboration with our partners at the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, Cyber Crimes Division, the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center, and Libertyville School District 70,” Libertyville Police Chief Ed Roncone said.
In a letter to parents obtained by the Lake & McHenry County Scanner on Friday, Libertyville District 70 Superintendent Rebecca Jenkins said that Sheffer was a social studies teacher at Highland Middle School and worked in the district for 18 years.
She added that the investigation followed the district’s immediate outreach to the police on the second-to-last day of school on June 3.
The district fully cooperated with police, Jenkins added, including “limiting our public communication on this matter to protect the integrity of their investigation.”
Sheffer turned himself over to police on Friday, authorities said.
“Protecting children from exploitation and abuse is our top priority. The Libertyville Police Department, our Cyber Crimes Division, ESD K9 Grip, ESD K9 Enzo, and the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center have done great work investigating this case,” said Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart. “We are committed to holding these offenders accountable and using every available tool, including digital forensics and K9 resources, to keep our community safe.”
Officials said two of the child pornography charges against Sheffer are class X felonies, while six counts are Class 1 felonies.
Authorities said they will continue working closely with the families and students impacted by these crimes to keep them informed about charges and connect them with support services.