DOWNTOWN — The Ogden International School teacher charged with hiding a camera in a school bathroom was hired by Chicago Public Schools despite a repeated history of prowling and playing Peeping Tom, prosecutors say.
Before he joined CPS in 2009, Elliott Nott was a track coach at North Park University — at least until 2007, when he was dismissed by the school after reportedly watching one of his athletes undress and take a shower, according to the North Park Press.
In 2005, Nott resigned as track and cross country coach from New England College in New Hampshire after pleading no contest to prowling near apartment windows on campus, according to the school and the Concord Monitor.
Dave Matthews talks about the previous allegations against Elliott Nott.
Prosecutors — who said Friday that Nott had "no criminal background" — reversed course Monday, confirming Nott's voyeuristic history.
"These cases all involve Elliott Nott — the same guy," Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State's Attorney, said in an e-mail.
The discovery is unsettling to Ogden parents as they wade through the school year wondering how someone with such a pattern of lewd behavior could gain access to their school. Nott, 41, is being held in the Cook County Jail after being charged with hiding a motion-activated video camera in a bathroom at Ogden's east campus in the Gold Coast, 24 W. Walton St.
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CPS is now conducting a review of Nott's background "to ensure proper hiring protocols were followed in 2009," according to Michael Passman, a spokesman for the school system. Passman said CPS requires a "comprehensive background check" for new hires including reviews of state and federal criminal databases.
"If in the course of this review it is determined that the current hiring process can be strengthened, we will not hesitate to revise our procedures," Passman said in a statement.
No charges were filed after the 2007 incident at North Park University, where Nott reportedly "was caught watching a female athlete undress and take a shower."
A North Park University spokesman declined to comment on the terms of Nott's departure, but did confirm he was fired as track coach that year.
New Hampshire court records show Nott pleaded no contest to prowling and paid a $300 fine there in 2005, and failed in 2007 to have the charge annulled.
According to the Monitor, an off-duty police officer saw Nott lurking near campus apartment windows in 2004. Nott reportedly told the officer he was waiting for an acquaintance, but was still arrested after the officer deemed his actions suspicious. Nott reportedly resigned from the college a week after pleading no contest to the prowling charge.
A spokesman for New England College also declined to elaborate on Nott's departure, simply confirming he left the school in 2005.
Nott's lawyer, Gigi Gilbert, said her client plans to plead not guilty to the Ogden hidden camera charge when he is arraigned next month. She was unaware of the prior reports, but affirmed that prosecutors told a judge Friday that Nott has "no criminal background."
Nott's history was surprising to some Ogden parents who knew Nott as a good teacher and family man who was popular with students. Nott was also a track coach at Ogden after an illustrious high school career in downstate Normal.
But Nott's image flipped when he was revealed as the person who allegedly fixed a camera to a sink in one of the school's bathrooms. The bathroom in question was used by staff and one elementary school student who had special permission.
"I can tell you he was not the guy you'd expect this to happen to," one Ogden parent with a fourth-grader at the school said in a text message Friday. "Family man who cared about the kids. Great teacher, all of that."
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