School District responds to Lovington teacher's arrest for possession of child pornography

SULLIVAN, Ill. (WAND) — A 6th grade teacher has been arrested for possession of child pornography.

Christopher D. Davis, a 38-year-old from Sullivan, was arrested by Illinois State Police after the agency received a cyber tip.

The tip revealed suspicious activity linked to a Yahoo account that belonged to Davis. Multiple images of child porn were found within the account.

Davis is a 6th grade teacher at Lovington Grade School, according to ISP, but no local minors have appeared in the abuse images. The state police investigation shows that all the images appear to come from websites.

"Exploitation of a child is terrible, criminal conduct and ISP special agents are committed to relentlessly pursuing justice and safety for all children every day," said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly.

Davis will appear in Moultrie County court for a detention hearing on Friday.

WAND News has reached out to Arthur CUSD #305 to learn whether Davis has been terminated.

Arthur CUSD#305 responded with the following statement :

"Arthur Community Unit School District No. 305 has been made aware of, and is actively responding to, reports related to the arrest of a District employee. The District had no knowledge of the situation until it was made public by law enforcement on Thursday, August 8, 2024.

"We understand that there is a likelihood that many reports will be made regarding the situation. As you understand, the District is extremely limited in the information we can release about personnel matters; however, the District wants to reinforce that we are confident in our ability to maintain a safe educational environment with no one at risk of harm. Our students safety is our number one priority and one that we take very seriously.

"At this time, we are not aware of any student in our community that has ever been in danger, and we have taken swift and appropriate action to ensure our school community will be safe during this time. We want to thank the police for their quick response to the situation."

Through a Freedom of Information request, WAND News learned that Davis submitted his letter of resignation dated Aug. 21, 2024.