Principal Who Hired Jeremy Hylka Suspended: Diocese

JOLIET, IL — The Diocese of Joliet waited until 5:30 p.m. Friday to issue a news release announcing that the person responsible for hiring Jeremy Hylka is now on paid suspension from the St. Joseph Catholic School in Lockport.

"The Diocese of Joliet confirmed today that Jeremy Hylka did not fulfill employment requirements while teaching at St. Joseph Catholic School in Lockport," announced Diocese of Joliet director of communications Mary Massingale.

"He obtained a substitute teaching license in January 2021 and was not enrolled in a teacher preparation program, which is required to continue teaching in a full-time position. St. Joseph Catholic School Principal Lynne Scheffler has been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, while school and diocesan officials examine the circumstances regarding Hylka’s employment," Massingale's statement read.

A resident of New Lenox, Hylka, 44, was terminated from his teaching position at St. Joseph's School in Lockport on April 28, as the Joliet Police Department announced that it was filing felony charges of traveling to meet a child and grooming against Hylka.

Hylka still remains at the Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital in New Lenox. His 36-year-old wife has hired a Joliet law firm to file her divorce, according to Will County Courthouse records.

A Will County judge also approved Mrs. Hylka's emergency order of protection petition to keep her estranged husband away from her and their three children.

Hylka "is being sought for arrest by the Joliet Police Department on charges of traveling to meet a child and grooming," the order of protection states. Hylka "had made some threats of suicide and is currently hospitalized at Silver Oaks Psychiatric Facility in New Lenox, Illinois."

On April 30, the Joliet Police Department held a news conference to discuss their criminal investigation into Hylka, the director of the Joliet Weather Center, who had previously worked as a long time theology teacher at Joliet Catholic Academy until resigning from that post last summer.