Charles Mark McCormack, 54, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children Nov. 27. He taught kindergarten at Chattanooga Valley Elementary School from 2002-16.When federal and state investigators raided a kindergarten teacher's Flintstone, Ga., home last year, they said they found a collection of pictures of naked girls, whom they believe were under 18. They also said they found a suitcase with children's underwear and a class photo inside.
The teacher, 54-year-old Charles Mark McCormack, signed a plea agreement in U.S. District Court on Monday that agreed to those facts in the case. He said he never inappropriately touched any children, despite an allegation from one of his students a year before the raid of his home.
As part of the agreement, federal prosecutors have promised not to pursue any charges for possession of child pornography on his cellphone or computer. Instead, they have focused on one incident from the mid-1990s, when McCormack allegedly filmed a 5- or 6-year-old girl using his bathroom.
McCormack's plea was to one count of sexual exploitation of children, a charge that carries a sentence of 10-20 years in prison. He hopes for a prison term of no longer than a decade. Federal prosecutors agreed to pursue a sentence on the lower end of the threshold, according to the plea agreement.
Once he is released, McCormack also is hoping for a five-year probation term, while prosecutors are aiming for a 20-year term. The disagreements should be ironed out during a sentencing hearing set for April 2.
According to the plea agreement, McCormack set up a camera to film a girl in his Muscle Shoals, Ala., bathroom at some point between August 1997 and October 1998. A coworker found the video after it fell out of his briefcase in October 1998. The coworker said she tried to tell local police about the incident, according to a Department of Homeland Security complaint, but an officer told her she needed to come to the station to make a formal accusation. She declined, though the complaint does not explain why.
In 2002, McCormack began working as a Chattanooga Valley Elementary School kindergarten teacher. In 2010, one of his students told an investigator that McCormack took a photo up her skirt. The girl's mother doubted her account, officers did not find the photo on McCormack's phone, and a prosecutor decided there was not enough evidence to pursue charges.
In 2015, another student said McCormack molested her in the classroom. McCormack, the school's principal and the school's guidance counselor told the Walker County Sheriff's Office that the girl was a troublemaker. The sheriff's office did not charge McCormack.
In May 2016, the Department of Homeland Security and Georgia Bureau of Investigation searched his home. The plea agreement filed Monday does not explain how, specifically, they suspected McCormack of possessing child pornography.
After the search, according to the plea agreement, investigators tried to interview some of his coworkers, including the woman who had the video from 1998. She then supplied officers with the evidence, according to the plea agreement.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.