PORTAGE | A former substitute teacher with a history of inappropriately touching children has been arrested on charges he molested a 5-year-old Portage boy he was hired to tutor.

Brett J. Zagorac, 27, of 9436 Verbena Drive, Munster, was arrested Friday on a felony child molestation charge. He faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.

Portage police said Zagorac advertised himself as a tutor on the Craigslist Web site under the alias BJ Wilhelm so that prospective clients would not be able to look up his criminal record.

"It's particularly egregious he's out there under another name," Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek said.

Polarek hopes the attention drawn to the case will prevent others from being victimized. She said any other parents who hired him as a tutor are encouraged to call their local police department if their children were inappropriately touched.

Zagorac made his initial court appearance Tuesday before Porter Superior Court Judge David Chidester, who was sitting in for Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper.

The judge set bond and ordered Zagorac, as a condition of bond, to have no contact with any children. Zagorac was released from jail Tuesday after posting $8,000 cash and a $15,000 surety.

Portage police Detective Janis Regnier stated in court documents the latest charge against Zagorac stems from inappropriate touching that occurred between Dec. 1 and Dec. 29.

The boy's mother told police the 5-year-old was having difficulty in kindergarten recognizing the alphabet and numbers. The mother began to look online for tutors, and found one who claimed to be a licensed teacher with six years experience for grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The tutor, who called himself BJ Wilhelm, told the mother he had a teaching degree and was pursuing another one.

Zagorac began tutoring the boy twice a week for three to four weeks in the basement of the mother's Portage home, and she told police she checked on them a number of times during the sessions. However, the boy told his mother the tutor put his hand under his shirt and rubbed his back and also put his fingers in the rear waistband of his pants and rubbed up and down.

"It makes me uncomfortable," the boy told his mother.

The mother then went online and began checking teacher licensing in Indiana and Illinois, and found no males named BJ Wilhelm. The only listing was a woman named Bobby Jean Wilhelm with 29 years of teaching experience, police said.

The boy's father got the tutor's license plate number and gave it to his brother, a Gary police officer, and the plate came back to Zagorac. The parents also learned Zagorac had prior child molesting charges. When Zagorac came to tutor the boy Dec. 29, Portage police were called.

Portage police said Zagorac, in explaining why he was using an alias, stated he didn't want people to find out he'd been previously charged with child molesting. Zagorac denied inappropriately touching the 5-year-old Portage boy, but said he might have patted his head or back.

Zagorac has a prior record involving inappropriate contact with children.

While working as a substitute teacher at Peifer Elementary School in Schererville in 2002, he was accused of inappropriately touching first- and fourth-grade students. He was found guilty of battery in 2003. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed that finding and ordered it reheard in two separate jury trials. He was acquitted each time.

While working as a substitute teacher at Hammond's Edison Elementary School in 2003, was accused of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old boy at the school. The child molestation charges were dropped in 2007 when the boy refused to testify. Officials said the boy couldn't stop throwing up in anticipation of testifying.

Zagorac was charged with inappropriately touching students in DuPage County, Ill., in 2005. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge in connection with that case in 2007.

In August, Lake Criminal Court Judge Clarence Murray denied a petition by Zagorac to have his arrest record erased. His attorneys argued child molestation charges were preventing Zagorac from finding employment.

Polarek said she doesn't know of any other children Zagorac tutored through Craigslist, but she said she would not be surprised to find more victims. Anyone with further information is asked to call his or her local police department or the WeTip hot line at (800) 78-CRIME.