A Former Whitnall High School janitor has been sentenced to 18 years on child porn charges

A former Whitnall High School custodian has been sentenced to 18 years in prison on child porn charges.

Jerome Slack, 39, was sentenced Jan. 13 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to 18 years confinement and 15 years extended supervision, according to online court records.

Slack, formerly of West Allis, pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to four charges of child sexual exploitation and one count of possession of child pornography as part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors.

On Jan. 13, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Mark Sanders handed down consecutive sentences of six years in prison and five years extended supervision on three of the child sexual exploitation charges; he ordered similar sentences on the other two charges, to be served concurrently.

Slack originally faced 18 charges ― nine counts of child sexual exploitation and nine counts of possession of child pornography. The other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, but were read into the court record and were able to be considered during sentencing.

According to a criminal complaint:

West Allis police began their investigation after receiving an online tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Slack used Snapchat and the Kik messaging app to share several sexually explicit videos of children, police said. The crimes occurred from on or about July 4, 2021, through May 6, 2022.

Charges were filed May 9, 2022.

Slack worked second shift at the high school, according to a May 6 letter sent by the Whitnall School District to families and staff members. He was not present during regular school hours and was not in buildings serving the district's youngest students.

The Whitnall School District serves the village of Hales Corners as well as parts of the cities of Greenfield and Franklin. Whitnall High School is in Greenfield.

Slack joined the custodial staff in February 2021 and was not provided with a district device, school officials said.

Authorities said that no Whitnall students were involved in the conduct and it occurred outside of work hours, the district said in its letter.

"No one at Whitnall was aware of this conduct until the charges were made," the letter said. "And nothing from the hiring process could have prepared us for this outcome. This individual had a clean background check and positive references at the time of hiring."

Contact Bob Dohr at 262-361-9140 or bob.dohr@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BobDohr1.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Whitnall HS custodian gets 18 years on child porn charges