More than 300 sexual misconduct cases found in Chicago schools: Report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Jan 2023 10:38

More than 100 teachers and officials are involved in the probe of extremely inappropriate behavior against minors, as the investigation and criminal charges continue to roll in.

Chicago Public School building (WTTW News)

After the Chicago Public Schools Office of the Inspector General released its annual report on Sunday, it was found that more than 100 Chicago teachers and school officials sexually groomed and assaulted students this past school year - amounting to more than 300 misconduct allegations out of over 600 complaints.

An Office of Inspector General (OIG) probe discovered that a 17-year-old student was sexually assaulted by a teacher three times and the teacher was thus charged with multiple counts of sexual assault. However, following a trial last November, the teacher was acquitted despite evidence provided by the student and social media.

Another investigation revealed that a former Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) staff member engaged in sexual activity with a high school girl for a whole year when she was around 16, while also giving her alcohol and marijuana. Shockingly, once he knew that he would potentially be under investigation, he allegedly threatened to kill her and her family. He was arrested and eventually sentenced to prison and was handed four years probation after pleading guilty to sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse.

Pulling a Jeffrey Epstein

The report also revealed a high school teacher allegedly exchanged 4,000 text messages with a female student, and in one incident sent 400 messages in one day, but the teacher gave the excuse that he was in an open marriage and was "attracted to other people."

Another incident showed a charter school administrator inappropriately touching a student's leg during a Broadway play performance. He took her on trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Ibiza, and the Bahamas but the administrator resigned after the OIG suggested his termination.

Mary Fergus, executive director of media relations for the school district, said in a statement to Fox News Digital, that education officials support the "work to investigate all issues of misconduct among our 40,000 team members", adding: "As a District, we take seriously our responsibility to serve our families with integrity and to address individuals who breach CPS policies and the public’s trust and hold them accountable,"

She continued: "CPS will continue to ensure our District policies and procedures support the highest ethical standards to ensure our valued team members act in the best interest of our students."