Glenview teacher who worked briefly at Stevenson High charged with child porn, sexual assault

A Glenview teacher who worked with the Stevenson High School Scholastic Bowl team was charged with sexual assault and possession of child pornography Tuesday, according to authorities.

Mathew Laird, 32, was arrested at his residence on the 3900 block of Triumvera Drive in Glenview on Tuesday, according to a news release by Glenview police.

Laird was a teacher at North Shore Academy until he was fired on Oct. 10, Northern Suburban Special Education District Superintendent Kurt A. Schneider wrote in a letter to parents.

Laird served as a co-sponsor of the Stevenson High School Scholastic Bowl team during the 2016-17 school year and also officiated at one Scholastic Bowl competition last school year, according to a letter sent to Stevenson High School parents Wednesday.

Laird was charged by police following an investigation by Glenview police detectives who are members of the Cook County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Investigators tracked Laird down using his IP address after he uploaded child pornography onto a website, authorities said.

Detectives served a search warrant at Laird's residence in September 2018 and seized several electronic devices.

Searching the devices, investigators said they found several hundred child porn images and videos.

Detectives also found several hundred images of current and former high school students, some of which were pornographic, authorities said.

Detectives are attempting to identify the students, according to the Glenview police news release.

Authorities said further investigation found that Laird committed two criminal sexual assaults, one of which involved a juvenile student.

At this time there is no information confirming that Laird assaulted students from North Shore Academy or Stevenson High School.

Both schools are cooperating with the ongoing investigation.