Jon Roth

Introduction

Jon M. Roth is a Huntley Community School District 158 school bus driver who was charged with ten counts of possession of child sexual abuse material after investigators served a search warrant at his home in Huntley, Illinois on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Roth, 43, faces Class 2 felony counts alleging possession of material depicting victims under 13 years old, and the district removed him from all duties and placed him on leave the day the arrest was reported. Parents said he had been driving preschool bus routes for the district until the day before his arrest.

Background Information

Roth worked as a bus driver for District 158, and parents said in public posts in a community group online that he drove their children’s preschool bus routes for the district’s Early Childhood Center in Lake in the Hills, which serves 3- and 4-year-olds. One parent said Roth was their son’s preschool bus driver until Monday and had driven for the center for three years; another said he drove their son’s route the year before and had filled in on elementary school routes that fall. Huntley Deputy Police Chief Kevin Keane said Roth is not currently a paramedic but “in the past he had paramedic experience”; a public LinkedIn profile lists prior work as a critical care paramedic and as a firefighter/paramedic with a DeKalb County fire protection district dating to 2006.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Roth faces criminal charges that have not been tried. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

A tip led investigators to Roth’s home, where Huntley police detectives and Illinois Attorney General’s Office investigators served a search warrant on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with the Illinois State Police and a Janesville, Wisconsin police agency assisting. Roth was taken into custody based on evidence gained during the search. According to a criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court, all ten counts involve videos allegedly found on Roth’s Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra cellphone, each charging possession of child sexual abuse material depicting a victim under 13 years old — a Class 2 felony in Illinois.

Superintendent Lombard addressed the question of student involvement directly: the district, she wrote, has “no information indicating that the materials related to the arrest pertain to any Huntley 158 student.” The charges were filed after a tip led investigators to his home, not after any report tied to his bus routes.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Superintendent Jessica Lombard said in a letter to staff and families on Wednesday that the Huntley Police Department had notified the district that a district bus driver was arrested. “We have no information indicating that the materials related to the arrest pertain to any Huntley 158 student, nor do we have any reason to believe that to be the case,” Lombard wrote. She noted that a bus aide is assigned to the driver’s bus and “has never reported any concerning conduct.”

The district, she said, took “immediate action to remove the driver from all duties” and placed him on leave while the matter is investigated, and Roth is also prohibited from being on district property and at district events. “As always, the safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority,” Lombard wrote. Among parents, the news landed with particular force because of the ages of the children on his regular routes — preschoolers — and the timing: several noted he had driven their children’s routes until the day before the search warrant was executed.

Current Status

Roth had been charged and taken into custody, with the case filed in McHenry County Circuit Court. A formal arraignment or next court date had not been reported in the charging coverage, and the quantity and origin of the material alleged in the videos had not been publicly described beyond the counts themselves. The district’s internal review and the criminal case were both described as ongoing.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Roth’s driving duties for District 158 ended immediately with his removal from all routes and his placement on leave, along with a ban from district property and events, severing a role that put him in daily contact with the district’s youngest students. The ten pending felony counts expose him to prison time if proven, and his broader emergency-services work history — paramedic and firefighter/paramedic roles listed as current on his professional profile — is incompatible with a future felony record of this kind. Whatever the outcome in McHenry County, his three years driving preschool routes for the district ended the day before investigators arrived at his home.

Sources

• Lake and McHenry County Scanner: “Huntley District 158 bus driver who parents say drove preschoolers charged with possessing child sexual abuse material” source