Skokie Teacher Caught With Child Pornography On His Phone At Mexican Airport: Feds

SKOKIE, IL — A Skokie high school teacher is facing charges of transporting child sexual abuse material internationally on a flight from O’Hare International Airport to Mexico City, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Thomas Neal, 42, possessed images and videos of child pornography on his cell phone when he flew from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, Mexico, on June 17, according to the complaint. Upon arrival, Neal was selected for secondary screening by Mexican border authorities, who observed images on his phone that constituted child pornography, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Mexican border authorities secured Neal’s phone and other luggage, including two laptops and six electronic storage devices, and placed him and the luggage on a flight to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Upon arrival in Houston, Homeland Security Investigations agents reviewed Neal’s phone pursuant to their border search authority and observed hundreds of files that constitute child pornography, according to the complaint.

In the complaint, officials said they identified several horrifying videos of children as young as 1 year old being sexually abused.

Neal has been charged with one count of transportation of child pornography. The charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Neal is currently a Spanish teacher at Niles North High School in Skokie. District 219 officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Neal has been removed from Niles North High School's staff directory.

Neal is currently detained in federal custody pending a detention hearing on June 29 at 12:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes in Chicago.