Carterville coach at center of sexual abuse investigation has history of
disciplinary action
[March 21, 2026]
By Jackson Brandhorst, Molly Parker
CARTERVILLE — John “Jake” Wakey, the Carterville High School assistant
football coach and teacher at the center of an ongoing criminal sexual
abuse investigation, had been previously disciplined for inappropriately
texting students and letting them hang out at his house late at night
without other adults present, according to school records.
Wakey was suspended for 10 days without pay in December 2009 by the
Carterville Unit 5 District’s Board of Education, according to records
obtained by Capitol News Illinois and the Saluki Local Reporting Lab
under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
In an eight-count “notice of charges,” the district at the time also
accused him of drinking in front of students before driving to catch the
bus headed for a football game that he helped coach. It also said that
he let students remain in his home unsupervised.
He did not face criminal charges.
Wakey joined the Carterville district in the fall of 2003, days after he
ended court supervision for a misdemeanor conviction for providing
liquor to minors earlier that same year in Coles County, about 150 miles
north of Carterville, court records show.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office announced last month it had
opened a criminal sexual abuse investigation into a district employee,
but didn’t name Wakey at the time. CNI and the Saluki Lab later reported
that Wakey was the subject of the abuse allegations, upon obtaining
three subpoenas served to the district seeking school records about him
and 17 former students.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the criminal
investigation, and the Illinois State Board of Education, which is
conducting a separate investigation into his teacher’s license, served
the subpoenas on the school district.
A subpoena is a legal process that compels the production of records or
interviews in an investigation. It does not indicate that wrongdoing has
occurred, or detail any allegations, and Wakey — who has worked in the
district for more than two decades — has not been charged with a crime.
He has not responded to multiple calls and text messages to his
cellphone seeking comment.
The announcement of a criminal sexual abuse investigation on Feb. 21
resulted in the district placing Wakey on paid administrative leave — an
action that came 15 months after the FBI first received a tip accusing
an employee, later identified to be Wakey, of inappropriate sexual
conduct involving a former student.
The FBI, which first received the tip alleging sexual abuse in November
2024, immediately determined that it didn’t have jurisdiction to
investigate, and passed the tip to local law enforcement.
The district had been informed of the FBI tip by local law enforcement
when it was first received, but said it didn’t have enough information
to contact child welfare services or conduct its own internal
investigation at that time.
The Williamson County sheriff also said recently that his office could
not officially open an investigation until last month, when a former
student agreed to go on the record with his allegations. The sheriff
said investigators believe there may be multiple victims, and that his
office has since received numerous tips concerning Wakey.
School district received other tips
Carterville School Board President David Schwartz said during a board
meeting Thursday night the district also received two anonymous reports
in February 2025 — just three months after the FBI tip came in —
alleging that Wakey had sent inappropriate text messages to students.
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A father with children in the Carterville school district addresses
officials during a board of education meeting about why they had not
acted sooner to place an assistant football coach, accused of sexual
abuse, on leave. (Photo by Lylee Gibbs, Saluki Local Reporting Lab)
Those tips came through an online service, FriendWatch, a grassroots
organization that gives teens an instant, virtual and anonymous way to
report concerns.
The district said that it contacted FriendWatch to see whether the
company could provide additional details. But FriendWatch told school
officials it could not, because the people making the reports did not
share identities or contact information.
Wakey denied having sent those texts flagged to the school district by
FriendWatch in February 2025, according to the district. He had also
initially denied the similar allegations from his prior disciplinary
case in 2009.
Since the alleged sexual abuse became public in February of this year,
the district has also received two additional reports concerning
inappropriate text messages —allegedly sent in March 2022 and November
2025 by Wakey to both a former and a current student.
The district has since launched its own internal investigation into
these reports, Schwartz said Thursday night, and has also provided
information and evidence about the messages to the Williamson County
Sheriff’s Office and ISBE.
One Carterville district parent, addressing the board Thursday night,
said he was concerned with the amount of time that had passed between
the FBI receiving the tip and the district placing Wakey on leave. Given
the prior allegations, “maybe there should have been more done,” he
said.
In the letter, read aloud by Schwartz and signed by school
Superintendent Sarah Barnstable, the district said it is taking steps to
improve the safety and well-being of the school community. That includes
more frequent training for appropriate social media usage, a review of
board policies governing employee conduct and a prohibition on the use
of personal technology for school-related communications.
“We take any allegation involving inappropriate conduct with students
extremely seriously, and we recognize the concern this situation has
caused for our students, families, staff and alumni,” the letter read,
which was sent out to district parents during the meeting.
The school board held a lengthy executive session during Thursday
night’s meeting, but did not take any public action concerning Wakey’s
employment. He continues to receive his $3,300 biweekly paycheck,
records show.
This story was produced for Capitol News Illinois
through the Saluki Local Reporting Lab, supported by grant funding
from the SIU Foundation and the Illinois Press Foundation.
Jackson Brandhorst is a student at Southern Illinois
University Carbondale, and a senior member of the Daily Egyptian,
SIU’s student newspaper. Brandhorst can be reached at jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com.
Capitol News Illinois is
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