Suburban volleyball coach charged with hiding video camera in bathroom

CAROL STREAM (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Bail was set at a quarter of a million dollars for a west suburban volleyball coach accused of hiding a video camera in the bathroom of a Carol Stream training facility.

Michael Liedtke, 34, was charged with two counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of unauthorized videotaping, all felonies, according to a statement from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

Liedtke is a volleyball coach and the owner of Xcel Athletes, which operates out of the DuPage Training Academy at 115 Alexandra Way in Carol Stream, prosecutors said.

“The allegations against Mr. Liedtke are, in a word, sickening,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement. “He allegedly violated not only the privacy of patrons at the facility, but also the trust placed in him by the parents of the athletes he trained. The disgusting behavior alleged in this case will be met with the full force of the law.”

Police were called on Monday after a camera was found hidden in a public bathroom ceiling tile at the facility, according to the state’s attorney’s office. The camera’s wiring led to a computer in Liedtke’s office.

Upon inspecting the computer, investigators found “numerous images of patrons, including minors, as they used the washroom,” authorities said. Images of child pornography were also found on Liedtke’s phone.

Liedtke, who lives in Streamwood, turned himself in Wednesday at the Carol Stream Police Department, prosecutors said. He was ordered held on $250,000 bail during a hearing Thursday. His next court date was set for Feb. 28.