Former Indiana middle school teacher sentenced to 30 years for child pornography

HAMMOND, Ind. - A former band teacher at a local middle school was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 years in federal prison for enticing a minor and manufacturing child pornography. The sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Hammond Police Department.

James Allen Ciammetti, 43, of Oak Lawn, Ill., was sentenced Dec. 28 by U.S. District Judge James Moody, Northern District of Indiana, to 30 years imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release. Ciammetti pleaded guilty to coercing and enticing a minor and manufacturing child pornography. As part of the plea agreement, Ciammetti also relinquished the balance of his teacher's retirement account, to be paid as restitution in this case. Ciammetti was a band teacher at George Rogers Clark Middle School in Hammond.

"Today's sentencing should put all types of child predators on notice that serious consequences await those who sexually exploit innocent children," said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Chicago. "This case was particularly troubling because of Mr. Ciammetti's position of public trust as an educator. HSI will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners to protect our children and ensure that sexual predators feel the full weight of the law."

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the Northern District of Indiana Philip Benson and Jill Trumbull Harris.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.