A 42-year-old Hammond band teacher charged in Lake Criminal Court with having sex with a 14-year-old eighth grade student is now charged in federal court with making child pornography.
Suspended Clark Middle/High School teacher James A. Ciammetti was indicted last week in Hammond federal court on charges he sexually enticed a minor, crossed state lines for sex acts with a minor, made child pornography and transported images of child pornography across state lines.
That indictment supersedes a previous indictment charging him with sexual enticement and crossing state lines for sex acts with a minor.
Ciammetti, of Oak Lawn, Ill. is scheduled to appear in Hammond federal court Tuesday afternoon.
Ciammetti pleaded not guilty in September in Lake Criminal Court to two counts of child molesting, two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of child solicitation. He is scheduled for a hearing in county court in July, said Diane Poulton, spokeswoman for the Lake County prosecutor's office.
Police have said Ciammetti, a 16-year teaching veteran, and a 14-year-old girl had sex about 10 times on school grounds during a 10-month relationship. Ciammetti's alleged crimes were discovered by the girl's father, who tracked his children's computer use, court records allege. Prosecutors claim Ciammetti and the 14-year-old girl traded more than 1,100 e-mails, most of them obscene.
Lake County court records claim Ciammetti had sex with the girl in his office, the band storage room and main band room.
Ciammetti was suspended without pay shortly after he was charged in Lake County.
No attorney has filed papers to represent Ciammetti in federal court, and his attorney in the county case, Rich Wolter, could not be reached Monday for comment.









