Evanston teacher possessed 'mind-numbing' amount of child porn, prosecutor says

WHEATON, Ill. (WLS) -- A west suburban man who worked for a private college prep school in north suburban Evanston is behind bars Friday after police discovered what prosecutors called a "mind-numbing" amount of child pornography on his computer.

Timothy King, 44, is now charged with seven felony counts of possession of child pornography. A judge set his bond at $300,000 Friday.

Authorities said they found 6,000 videos and pictures depicting child pornography at his Wheaton home, which neighbors said he shares with his wife and school-age daughter.

DuPage County Prosecutor Robert Berlin used the words "mind-numbing" to describe the volume of disturbing images.

King worked as an IT director and science teacher at the exclusive Roycemore School in Evanston, a K-12 private academy where tuition tops out at nearly $28,000.

In a statement, the school's headmaster said: "[King] passed our background check process and has been a productive employee so we were very surprised by his arrest. We are fully cooperating with investigators."

Prosecutors said King stored the images in multiple hard drives. Though King had access to school computers as IT director, Roycemore's headmaster said investigators indicated that King used his home equipment.

Roycemore School said it has hired outside experts to conduct an internal investigation.

King has worked at Roycemore since 2014. In an email to parents, the school said he will not be returning to campus but did not indicate if he'd been fired.