Dagoberto Diaz

Introduction

Dagoberto Diaz is a 48-year-old suburban Chicago educator who worked as a teacher at Carl Sandburg Middle School in Mundelein, Illinois, and as the girls junior varsity volleyball coach at Mundelein High School. He was arrested in September 2026 and charged with one felony count of unauthorized video recording of a juvenile after a student reported that she believed he was photographing her during an exercise session, and a forensic examination of his cellphone allegedly turned up images and videos that police said corroborated her suspicion. The school district placed him on administrative leave, barred him from any contact with students, and moved to fire him. He has been charged, not tried, and is presumed innocent.

Background Information

Diaz worked a split role across two Mundelein-area school districts: he taught at Carl Sandburg Middle School, part of Mundelein Elementary School District 75, and coached the girls junior varsity volleyball program at Mundelein High School, part of Township High School District 120. The dual posting put him in daily contact with middle-school-aged and high-school-aged students in the same north suburban Lake County community.

Public records of the case begin with the August 2026 school-year report that triggered the police inquiry; no prior disciplinary history for Diaz was reported in the coverage of his arrest, and the districts’ statements about the case centered on their handling of the report rather than on his employment record.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged; presumption of innocence. Diaz has been charged with one felony count of unauthorized video recording of a juvenile. The charge is an accusation, he has not entered a plea reported in the coverage, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

According to Mundelein police, the episode began on August 18, 2026, when administrators from School District 75 and Mundelein High School’s district notified police after a student came to them. The student said the coach brought her into a room to perform stretching and jumping exercises, and that she saw him holding a cellphone before a flash went off, leading her to believe she was being photographed. Police said she reported the incident to school staff immediately.

Detectives identified the coach as Diaz, seized his cellphone under a search warrant, and had it forensically analyzed. Police said the examination found several images and videos that corroborated the student’s initial suspicion, and that Diaz was also a teacher at Carl Sandburg Middle School.

On September 22, 2026, police executed a search warrant at Diaz’s home and took him into custody at a family member’s home in Mundelein. He was charged with one count of unauthorized video recording of a juvenile and booked into the Lake County Jail pending a first court appearance.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The school districts’ response was immediate and, by design, total: Mundelein D75 and D120 Superintendent Dr. Corey Tafoya said in a letter to families that Diaz had been placed on administrative leave the same day the alleged behavior was reported, and that since then he had not been permitted to interact with students or set foot on school property. The district, Tafoya wrote, is pursuing his termination.

Administrators also alerted law enforcement and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services when the report came in. “While we are deeply troubled by this situation, we are also incredibly proud of the students who demonstrated the courage to speak up when something did not feel right,” Tafoya wrote, adding that the episode “reinforces our commitment to continually train our coaches and staff and seek every possible way to keep our students safe.”

The Mundelein Police Department publicly thanked “the students involved for coming forward and reporting the suspicious circumstances,” and asked anyone with additional information to contact investigators. Local outlets across Chicago carried the arrest, with the charge detailed consistently as a felony carrying the unauthorized-recording statute’s juvenile-victim enhancement.

Current Status

As of the September 2026 reporting, Diaz had been charged and was in custody at the Lake County Jail pending a first appearance hearing. He remained on administrative leave from both of his school jobs, barred from contact with students and from school property, with the district formally pursuing his termination. The criminal charge was pending; no trial date, plea, or disposition had been announced in the covered reporting, and the forensic findings described by police had not yet been tested in court.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The arrest ended Diaz’s classroom and coaching work in the districts where he held both jobs, and the pending termination means his employment, not merely his leave status, is on the way out. A felony recording conviction under the Illinois statute he was charged under would carry prison exposure and a permanent criminal record, in addition to the professional consequences already set in motion.

For the districts, the case became a public testament to their reporting channels: the superintendent framed the student’s report — and the chain from classroom report to administrators to police and child-welfare authorities — as the system working as designed, while acknowledging a “painful event” that would drive further training of coaches and staff.

Sources

• Fox 32 Chicago, “Mundelein volleyball coach charged after student reports suspected recording,” September 23, 2026. source
• NBC Chicago, “North suburban teacher and volleyball coach charged with secretly recording student,” September 23, 2026. source
• Chicago Sun-Times, “Mundelein volleyball coach accused of recording student exercising and stretching,” September 23, 2026. source