Former Illinois teacher gets prison for sexual misconduct

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A former southern Illinois math teacher and cross country coach has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on charges involving sexual misconduct with girls.

The East St. Louis judge also ordered that Timothy Going, 44, be subject to 15 years of supervision after his release.

Going, who was a teacher and cross country coach at Fairfield Community High School, pleaded guilty last September to three indictment counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of possessing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

"So many of the aspects of this case are simply disgusting, but the most reprehensible is the complete and utter disregard for the trust that the schools and the parents had placed in Going," Stephen Wigginton, southern Illinois' U.S. attorney, said in a statement. "Hopefully this long sentence will send a powerful message to those who might want to take advantage of a position of trust - do something like this and forget about a future on the streets as a free citizen."

St. Clair prosecutors also have charged Going with felonies related to the videotaping of girls ages 15 to 18 in November 2013 in the bathroom of a motel in Fairview Heights, just east of St. Louis. Wayne County prosecutors had charged Going with illegally placing a video camera in the girls' locker room at the Fairfield high school, but those counts were dropped last August as prosecutors deferred to the federal case.

Going was sentenced Monday to 20 years on the exploitation charges and 10 years on the other count, with both all of the terms to be served simultaneously.