Elgin man, former DeKalb superintendent, charged with sending sexual photo

An Elgin man who served as superintendent of DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 has been charged with sharing without permission a sexual image of a female employee of the district, officials said.

Douglas J. Moeller, 61, of the 800 block of Carol Avenue, was charged with nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images, a felony, after an investigation by DeKalb police, DeKalb County State's Attorney Rick Amato said in a Facebook post.

Moeller intentionally disseminated on Feb. 8, 2017, an image of an identifiable adult person "engaged in a sexual act" that he obtained "under circumstances in which a reasonable person would understand that the image was to remain private," prosecutors said.

A DeKalb County judge issued a warrant Thursday for Moeller's arrest and he was arrested Friday morning at his home, Elgin police spokeswoman Kristie Hilton said.

Moeller posted $1,000 bail and was released later in the day, DeKalb officials said. Information about his next court date was not immediately available.

Two District 428 board members reported Feb. 8, 2017, they received inappropriate text messages and photos, one of them depicting a woman engaged in a sexual act, DeKalb police said in a news release.

The board members didn't know who sent the photos and didn't recognize the phone number. They identified the woman as an employee of the school district, police said. The woman then told police she had given Moeller the photos, police said.

Detectives learned the phone the messages and photos were sent from was purchased in South Elgin by a former student of Moeller's, police said. The student told police Moeller gave him money to buy the phone, and he gave the phone to Moeller, police said.

During the investigation police obtained search warrants for phone records and phone calls, the release said.

District 428 Superintendent Jamie Craven confirmed the school board voted to approve a separation agreement with Moeller on Feb. 7, 2017, the day before the photos were sent to the board members. He would not say whether the woman is still an employee of the district.

Moeller was a teacher Gifford Street High School in Elgin, an adjunct instructor at Elgin Community College, and dean of students at Elgin High School before joining the DeKalb school district in 2009, according to an online bio.