Hundreds of Chicago teachers and school officials sexually harassed and assaulted students last year, according to a report released this week.
The Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General released its annual report Sunday, saying it verified more than 300 allegations of misconduct out of more than 600 complaints for the 2021-22 school year.
An OIG investigation concluded that a teacher groomed and sexually assaulted a 17-year-old student three times. That teacher was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault. After a trial in November 2022, the teacher was cleared of all charges, according to the report, despite evidence provided by the student and social media records.
Another investigation revealed that a former JROTC staff member had sexual relations with a high school girl over the course of a year when she was between the ages of 16 and 17, according to the report. The girl was also given alcohol and marijuana and she bought him marijuana, the OIG said.
VIRGINIA POLICE SAY A 6-YEAR-OLD STUDENT SHOT A TEACHER AT NEWPORT NEWS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
An empty classroom. A report released this week by the Chicago Public Schools Office of the Inspector General said it corroborated hundreds of adults on allegations of student misconduct for the 2021-22 school year.
(iStock)
The couple also exchanged hundreds of text messages and calls.
“I’m ready to f— right now…I’m not going to be nice either,” one message read, the report said.
When the staff member realized she might be under investigation, he allegedly threatened to kill the girl and her family. He was arrested and ultimately sentenced to time served and four years probation after pleading guilty to sexual assault and criminal sexual assault.
A high school teacher allegedly exchanged 4,000 text messages with a student, including 400 in one day. The teacher said that he was in an open marriage and that he was “attracted to other people”.
Other incidents included a high school gym teacher exposing himself to a student.
A charter school administrator took a high school student to a Broadway play in downtown Chicago when he touched her leg during the performance, according to the report. After the show, while driving the student home, she “slid her hand inside the front of the student’s pants and touched his genitals.”
The administrator also took the student on trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Ibiza and the Bahamas, the OIG said. The administrator resigned after the OIG recommended her dismissal.
Darwin Elementary after Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest school district, said it would cancel classes as the teachers union voted to return to remote learning, in Chicago on January 5, 2022.
(REUTERS/Jim Vondruska)
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mary Fergus, the school district’s executive director of media relations, said education officials support “working to investigate all issues of misconduct among our 40,000 team members.”
“As a district, we take seriously our responsibility to serve our families with integrity and to address individuals who violate CPS policies and the public trust and hold them accountable,” he said. “CPS will continue to ensure that our District policies and procedures uphold the highest ethical standards to ensure that our valued team members act in the best interest of our students.”
He noted that the district has taken action against wrongdoers.
