Former Algonquin school worker pleads guilty to possession of images of child sex abuse

A former employee of Algonquin-based Community Unit School District 300 was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to an amended charge of possessing images of child sex abuse.

Donald Peters, 36, of Cary also pleaded guilty to attempted possession of child sex abuse images and was sentenced to four years of sex offender probation, to be served following his prison term, judgment orders show.

McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt, who accepted the plea, allowed Peters to turn himself into the McHenry County jail June 26 to begin his sentence. The stay was granted so he could address ongoing medical issues, his attorney and a prosecutor said.

Peters is required to serve half his sentence and is to register as a sex offender for life, according to the judgment orders.

Peters, who at the time of his arrest worked as an attendance secretary at Westfield Community School in Algonquin, was charged in 2023 with the more serious charges of possessing and reproducing images of child sex abuse, Class X felonies that carry a prison term of up to 30 years.

He also was charged with grooming, luring, solicitation of images of child sex abuse, electronic harassment/threatening a person and making an obscene proposal, cyberstalking/causing a person fear and distress as well as intimidation, court records said. Those charges were dismissed Friday.

Peters used an anonymous name on Snapchat and presented himself as a child between 13 and 16. He then solicited children in the same age range for sexually explicit images and videos, Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney Margaret O’Brien said. His alleged offenses involved students from within District 300, O’Brien said.

A lawsuit has been filed by two alleged victims against the school district.