Ex-Joliet Diocese teacher arrested and booked on child grooming charges

A former teacher for the Catholic Diocese of Joliet was arrested and booked Tuesday on charges of inappropriate communication with a child.

Jeremy Hylka, 44, posted a $10,000 bail and was released, Joliet police said in a statement.

Hylka had been hospitalized for an unspecified reason since he was charged in late April with traveling to meet a child and grooming, police said.

A Snapchat video allegedly showed Hylka engage in inappropriate behavior with someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy. But the person was really a 19-year-old man who posed as a minor, police said.

The Joliet Diocese fired Hylka from teaching at three of its schools, and later admitted that Hylka never met the requirements to teach full time.

Lynne Scheffler, principal of St. Joseph Catholic School in Lockport, was placed on administrative leave while officials “examine the circumstances” of Hylka’s employment, the diocese said last week.

Hylka also taught at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus, both in Joliet, according to the diocese.