Christian school football coach faces new charge for child sexual abuse image

A physical education teacher at a Hall County private academy used his cellphone to record images underneath the clothes of more than two dozen girls during school hours, authorities said.

Joel Ernest Lulinski, 52, of Cleveland was arrested Thursday, two weeks after a student took her concerns to administrators at Lanier Christian Academy, according to a news release from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.

On Friday, officials added a new felony count of sexual exploitation of a minor after authorities said they found one image of child sexual abuse material on Lulinski’s cellphone. The sheriff’s office said they discovered the image, “depicting a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” while conducting a forensic cellphone analysis prompted by the initial investigation.

A sheriff’s office spokesperson said investigators do not believe the image is of a student at the school. No information has been released about the identity of the child or their age, and officials did not say how they believe Lulinski acquired the image.

A statement from the sheriff’s office describes the image as “unrelated” to the school case. Lulinski remains in the Hall County jail without bond.

Lulinski was a PE teacher and a football coach at the K-12 school in Flowery Branch, authorities said. He also faces 27 felony charges of use or installation of a device to film underneath or through an individual’s clothing, the sheriff’s office said.

Those charges involve 27 different students, a sheriff’s office spokesperson confirmed Friday. Each of the alleged victims is a girl under the age of 16, authorities said.

Joseph Summer, Lulinski’s attorney, declined to comment on the case, citing its “early stage.”

Lulinski underwent a background screening before he was hired in 2019, and additional checks were conducted “at regular intervals during employment,” the school said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“While this news is devastating for the victims and heartbreaking for our school community, we are grateful this was reported. As a school family, we are shocked and grieved by these events,” the statement said. “We realize there will be questions and concerns, and we want to address them promptly and with care.”

The student first reported her suspicions to administrators April 2. School officials then contacted a Hall County sheriff’s deputy working an extra job at the school.

A Lanier Christian representative confirmed Lulinski was placed on administrative leave as soon as the incident was reported to school officials. The school then informed the sheriff’s office of the allegation within three hours of learning about it. Lulinski’s job was terminated Thursday, the day of his arrest.

Investigators determined Lulinski had “used his cell phone on multiple occasions to take inappropriate and surreptitious photos or videos of minor children during the course of normal school activities,” the sheriff’s office said.

The teacher and coach was arrested after being questioned at the sheriff’s office.

A woman who answered a phone registered to Lulinski’s family declined to comment and did not identify herself.

Students and families can access counseling services at the school, which said it is cooperating with the ongoing investigation. The sheriff’s office said investigators are still processing other electronic devices they seized from Lulinski.

The school also said it is reviewing student safety protocols in consultation with law enforcement and attorneys.