Video recordings of a man identified as a local elementary school principal having sex at the school with a woman identified as a teacher emerged Thursday, hours before the accused parties resigned.

Sandridge Elementary School Principal Leroy Coleman and teacher Janet Lofton were identified as being shown on the DVD, sent this week to Sandridge parents, teachers, suburban education officials and The Times.

The Cook County Sheriff's Department is investigating.

Coleman cited health problems for his resignation, and Lofton cited an illness in the family, said John Izzo, Sandridge Elementary School District 172 School Board attorney.

Coleman spoke to The Times earlier Thursday as he left the school. Sandridge educates a more than 400 students who are currently on spring break.

"I'd rather, at this point, have no comment," he said. Coleman said he knew nothing about the recordings.

"I have to find out what's going on," he said.

Lofton could not be reached for comment Thursday.

District Superintendent Diane Dyer-Dawson and board President Cheryl Ward did not return calls Thursday.

With a district School Board election five days away, residents of Alpine Village, a Lynwood mobile home park in the school district, held an impromptu meeting to discuss the recordings. News of the resignations just before 6 p.m. interrupted the meeting of more than 50 parents.

Plans to show the recording were canceled after people voiced concerns about showing such material in public.

Theresa Motyka, the Lynwood parent of a 3-year-old early childhood student and a 17-year-old who had attended the school, heard about the recording and wanted proof.

"It makes me scared for my children's safety," said Motyka, who attended the meeting. "It's pretty sad when you can't trust your kids' teachers."

Sheriff's Department and South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force officer tried to ease parents' concerns. They appeared at the meeting before speaking with the superintendent at the school.

"I can see their concern with their students in the school," Cook County Sheriff's Police Department 1st Deputy Chief John Palcu said after informing the parents that an investigation has been launched.

The recording appears to show two adults engaged in consensual sexual activity, Palcu said.

"We are conducting interviews, and detectives are looking at the recording," he said.

The Cook County state's attorney's office will determine if Coleman or Lofton are pictured on the DVD and should face criminal charges once the Sheriff's Department's investigation is done, Palcu said.

The DVD, recorded from an elevated camera, appears to show Coleman and Lofton in several conference-room encounters. The couple is shown on the DVD kissing and hugging.

In what some described as the most salacious of the encounters, the pair shown on the DVD engage in several different sexual acts.

The DVD also showed what appeared to be Coleman hugging and caressing another woman on a separate occasion.

The Times was unable to determine how the camera came to be placed in the office.

Investigators Thursday evening were allowed access to areas of the school to look for the camera and other items that may be related to the investigation.

Before Coleman's and Lofton's resignations, Lynwood Village President Gene Williams said he was disappointed in how the news of the recording came to light.

"Everyone should have thought about the effects on the kids," said Williams, who said he once taught with Coleman's wife at Chicago Vocational School.

"To overcome this, the best way is to let the superintendent and the School Board handle it," he said. Williams found out about the recordings after he received a call Thursday from Kim Grivakis, a parent who anonymously received a copy of the DVD on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday, Grivakis and other concerned parents were busy contacting state, suburban Cook County and District 172 officials.

Grivakis and Rosie Solis said they were among those who received the DVD by mail in a padded envelope, which did not have a return address and carried a Flossmoor postmark.

Along with a DVD, the package contained the note: "Sandridge District 172 Principal makes porn in school office with staff members during school hours," and "Be concerned show your neighbors call the newspapers and TV stations."

Some Sandridge teachers also received the recording, as did The Times and suburban Cook County Regional Superintendent Robert Ingraffia.

Grivakis and Solis, who have been at odds with Coleman during his time as Sandridge's principal, said they were shocked by what they saw and said it should not have happened while at school, or if children were in the building.

"You don't know if before or after they were done, that kids may have been in the office being disciplined," Grivakis said.