CHICAGO, IL - Emilio Vrdoljak was recently removed from his employment at DePaul College Prep after being arrested and charged with attempted production of child pornography.
Vrdoljak raised suspicions of federal authorities when he attempted to re-enter the country with a 17-year-old male from Argentina. What originally started as a routine conversation when Customs and Border Protection officers selected the boy for a secondary inspection, soon turned into something much larger.
Authorities at Miami International Airport asked the juvenile how he was associated with Vrdoljak. He said that the older man was his teacher and that he was staying with him in the States for two weeks as part of his curriculum.
When investigators searched the pair’s cell phones to corroborate their story, they found sexually explicit material on Vrdoljak’s phone.
The subject of that material was an unidentified 16-year-old male. Conversations were discovered between the former teacher and the youth in which Vrdoljak had sent explicit photos while requesting the boy return the favor.
The two exchanged chats, videos and images over several days.
Per CWB Chicago, when Homeland Security agents asked the man why he was exchanging these images and conversations with a minor, he told them he was “thinking with his butt.”
As of this writing, DHS investigators had not confirmed that had verified the unidentified minor was actually 16, even though he stated so in their chat communications.
The 17-year-old told investigators that Vrdoljak asked him to share a bed, as well as alleging that he showed him pornographic images while they were in Buenos Aires and while they waited for their flight to Miami.
Vrdoljak admitted to the first accusation of sleeping arrangements as well as sharing images and videos while still in Argentina but denied anything happening at the airport or on the plane to Miami.
Vrdoljak appeared before a magistrate in Chicago where he was ordered to post a $250,000 bond and was placed under house arrest and confined to his home in Chicago’s South Loop.
DePaul College Prep’s president, Mary Dempsey, sent an email to staff and parents detailing the arrest and assuring everyone that the teacher, whose position was reportedly short-term, was no longer employed at the school.
While the charges do not currently include anyone at the school, she said the email was sent out of “an abundance of caution.”
The Blaze found a bio on the Argentinian teacher on a Chicago-area pre-school’s website. "My name is Emilio Vrdoljak," it said.
"I am from Northern Argentina, a place called Chaco. I have been living in Chicago since 2002. I am a schoolteacher and have been teaching kids since 1992. I taught English in Argentina in my hometown for 10 years before moving here. I love travelling and photography."
Vrdoljak raised suspicions of federal authorities when he attempted to re-enter the country with a 17-year-old male from Argentina. What originally started as a routine conversation when Customs and Border Protection officers selected the boy for a secondary inspection, soon turned into something much larger.
Authorities at Miami International Airport asked the juvenile how he was associated with Vrdoljak. He said that the older man was his teacher and that he was staying with him in the States for two weeks as part of his curriculum.
When investigators searched the pair’s cell phones to corroborate their story, they found sexually explicit material on Vrdoljak’s phone.
The subject of that material was an unidentified 16-year-old male. Conversations were discovered between the former teacher and the youth in which Vrdoljak had sent explicit photos while requesting the boy return the favor.
The two exchanged chats, videos and images over several days.
Per CWB Chicago, when Homeland Security agents asked the man why he was exchanging these images and conversations with a minor, he told them he was “thinking with his butt.”
As of this writing, DHS investigators had not confirmed that had verified the unidentified minor was actually 16, even though he stated so in their chat communications.
The 17-year-old told investigators that Vrdoljak asked him to share a bed, as well as alleging that he showed him pornographic images while they were in Buenos Aires and while they waited for their flight to Miami.
Vrdoljak admitted to the first accusation of sleeping arrangements as well as sharing images and videos while still in Argentina but denied anything happening at the airport or on the plane to Miami.
Vrdoljak appeared before a magistrate in Chicago where he was ordered to post a $250,000 bond and was placed under house arrest and confined to his home in Chicago’s South Loop.
DePaul College Prep’s president, Mary Dempsey, sent an email to staff and parents detailing the arrest and assuring everyone that the teacher, whose position was reportedly short-term, was no longer employed at the school.
While the charges do not currently include anyone at the school, she said the email was sent out of “an abundance of caution.”
The Blaze found a bio on the Argentinian teacher on a Chicago-area pre-school’s website. "My name is Emilio Vrdoljak," it said.
"I am from Northern Argentina, a place called Chaco. I have been living in Chicago since 2002. I am a schoolteacher and have been teaching kids since 1992. I taught English in Argentina in my hometown for 10 years before moving here. I love travelling and photography."
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