Northwest Herald

Former McHenry High teacher, coach charged with sharing child sex abuse materials

Bradley Robertson

Bradley Robertson (Photo provided by Cook County Sheriff's Office)

By Janelle Walker

A former teacher and coach at McHenry High School has been charged with possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material online, prosecutors and school officials have said.

Bradley Robertson, 41, a Palatine High School teacher’s aide, is accused of using the instant messaging application Kik to upload or share at least three files depicting child sexual abuse material on his cellphone, and discussed sharing images with other users of the app, Cook County prosecutors said Friday, according to a Daily Herald report.

Before he was hired at Palatine High School, Robertson was a special education teacher in McHenry High School District 156 from 2020 to 2024, a district spokesperson said in an email.

He was head girls lacrosse coach from 2020 to 2023, an assistant boys basketball coach from 2022 to 2024, and an assistant football coach from 2021 to 2022, the district said. Online district records show his resignation from District 156 was submitted to the school board in March 2024, to be effective May 25 of that year.

He is charged by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office with eight counts of reproducing child sexual abuse materials involving a child younger than 13 and possession of child sex abuse materials.

Investigators had received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children earlier this year about child pornography used on Kik, according to court documents cited by the Daily Herald. Investigators executed search warrants to obtain the IP address, email address, phone number and home address of the suspected account, which were linked to Robertson, prosecutors said.

An Illinois State Police SWAT team, the state’s attorney’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and Palatine police searched Robertson’s home June 17 and seized three laptop computers, authorities said.

A spokesperson for Palatine-based High School District 211 told the Daily Herald that the district had an open personnel investigation and was reviewing Robertson’s employment status.

Robertson remained in the Cook County jail Tuesday after his initial court appearance June 19.

McHenry CountyCook CountyMcHenry Community High School District 156McHenryMcHenry County Front Headlines
Janelle Walker

Janelle Walker

Originally from North Dakota, Janelle covered the suburbs and collar counties for nearly 20 years before taking a career break to work in content marketing. She is excited to be back in the newsroom.