(The Lion) — In the latest scandal to beset Chicago Public Schools, a new lawsuit accuses the district of burying allegations regarding sexual abuse of a minor over a decade ago by a female security guard.
“They failed her repeatedly for years,” Bryce Hensley, founding partner of Gould Grieco & Hensley, told the local ABC affiliate regarding his client, who is now in her 20s. “The impact on her life is permanent.”
As previously reported by The Lion, multiple students have come forward to share stories of sexual abuse against district teachers and administrators – one of which resulted in a $17.5 million settlement in December.
“It’s been nearly three years since a security guard at Farragut Career Academy in Little Village was arrested and charged with raping a student there,” the ABC affiliate writes. “But, as it turns out, he may not have been the first.”
‘The school let it go’
The client, dubbed Jane Doe in the lawsuit, was a freshman at Farragut High School when the security guard’s mother allegedly referred her “as someone who could provide guidance regarding the high school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program,” according to the outlet.
“The security guard offered her rides to and from sporting activities. And then it progressed,” said Jennifer Cascio, a partner at the law firm.
All this happened between 2012 and 2015, when the former student says she was groomed and repeatedly assaulted sexually.
The guard’s wife reported the abuse in 2015, according to journalists – showing “explicit messages, inappropriate messages between an adult and a minor,” Cascio told the ABC affiliate.
However, CPS failed to notify “either the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services or police” at the time as the guard’s mother “was said to be part of Farragut Career Academy’s administration office,” according to the outlet.
“Veiled threats, allegedly regarding the family’s immigration status, were allegedly used against them.”
Meanwhile, the guard continued working at the school until 2018 after failing a background check, according to attorneys.
“The school let it go because the security guard said it didn’t happen,” Cascio argued.
No criminal charges have been filed against the guard, who now lives out of state, the ABC affiliate wrote.
‘A critical step toward justice’
Last year the district’s former dean of Little Village Lawndale High School, Brian Crowder, received a 22-year prison sentence in August after being convicted of sexually assaulting and abusing a former student.
“We commend the jury for seeing the truth and holding Mr. Crowder accountable,” said a statement from Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, the law firm representing the woman. “But this case is about more than one man. It raises urgent questions about institutional failures and the systemic grooming of students by trusted adults within the Chicago Public School system. That’s why we continue to pursue justice on all fronts, including the ongoing civil litigation on behalf of these survivors.”
The statement also called the guilty verdict “a critical step toward justice – not only for our brave client who testified this week, but for every young woman who was targeted, manipulated, and abused by staff within the district.”
(Photo by Jansen Miller, Unsplash)
