Parents Accuse Custodian Of Sexually Assaulting Evanston Student

EVANSTON, IL — The parents of an Evanston seventh grader who reported being sexually assaulted earlier this month at an Evanston/Skokie District 65 school say they are unsatisfied with the answers they have so far received about the incident from the district and police, according to a letter to school and city officials delivered Wednesday.

"Our 12-year-old, seventh grade daughter was raped at approximately 1:50 p.m. [Friday, Oct. 4] in the girl's bathroom by a custodian at Haven Middle School in Evanston," the parents said in the letter addressed to Haven Principal Kathy Roberson. "Our family is enraged, upset, shocked and cannot believe our new reality. During the middle of the school day, in suburban Evanston and in the girl's washroom, our daughter was brutally attacked."

District officials first heard about the incident late on Monday, Oct. 7, according to a letter Roberson sent to parents and guardians sent the following morning. Roberson said the district immediately contacted the Evanston Police Department and Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and began its own internal investigation.

Roberson disclosed only that a student reported " a staff member engaged in inappropriate behavior towards this student during school hours," in her Oct. 8 letter to parents.

"At this early stage of the investigation," the principal added, "in an abundance of caution, individual(s) alleged to be involved in this matter have been placed on leave and will have no contact with students until the investigation is completed."

Later that week, Roberson told parents the district staffer remained on leave with no contact from students and promised to keep parents apprised of developments.

On Oct. 16, Roberson sent another letter to parents, saying there had been an "uptick in conversation and misinformation, including news reports regarding the situation." But, the principal said, "at this time we have no new information."

She said the police and DCFS were "working carefully and methodically to gather information quickly, and with fidelity, so the investigations can be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible."

As of 19 days after the incident, no charges have been filed, and the girl's parents say they "have more questions than answers and want to make sure this doesn't happen to another child," according to their Oct. 23 letter to Roberson, which was also delivered to Evanston's mayor, police chief and District 65 school board and parent-teacher organization.

"If we had any idea that lurking in the hallways of Evanston schools are every parent's nightmare, we would have protected our daughter and enrolled her in another school," the girl's mother, who grew up in Evanston and graduated from Haven and Evanston Township High School, said in the letter. She posed a series of questions to administrators:

• How could this brutal sexual attack happen at Haven?
• What are the school’s safety protocols? Where were the safety officers?
• What is the offender's name and who hired him?
• When can we review the video footage?
• Does Haven research the backgrounds of all staff members at the school?
• When will the Evanston Police Department arrest and charge the offender?
• It's been 20 days since the attack.
• What does the school plan to do to make sure this doesn't happen to another student?

Neither District 65 Interim Superintendents Phil Ehrhardt and Heidi Wennstrom nor Communications Director Melissa Messinger responded to a request to speak with a district representative about its response to the incident.

The Evanston police investigation began on Oct. 7 and remains ongoing as of Oct. 23, according to Cmdr. Ryan Glew. He said he could not comment on whether the case had been turned over to prosecutors from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for approval of felony charges.

The letter asks police and school officials to contact the family through the attorney they retained, Andrew Stroth. His firm is currently engaged in federal civil rights litigation with Evanston police and ETHS administrators over allegations school and police officials negligently allowed multiple security guards to have sex with students.

Stroth said the girl's parents sent the letter because they have not received any answers from school or police officials. He said school and police officials told him there was a security camera video from inside the school on the day of the incident, so he could not understand what additional evidence was needed to bring charges against the accused custodian.

"If it was their child, would they wait almost three weeks to get any answers? No answers have been given to the family," Stroth said. "You've got a rapist walking the street. Why is the guy not arrested and charged? What else does the Evanston Police Department need, other than video evidence and a complaining witness and a positive ID?"

Update:

After this article was published, District 65's interim superintendents issued the following statement around 7 p.m. Wednesday. Though it does not address all of the parents' questions — or make any reference to the internal investigation Roberson mentioned in earlier communications — the statement appears to confirm the allegations contained in the letter:

Over the past two weeks, Principal Kathy Roberson has communicated with the Haven Middle School community about a report we received on Monday, October 7 that a staff member engaged in inappropriate conduct toward a student during school hours on the previous school day—Friday, October 4.

We were shocked and deeply distressed to learn this. Our immediate concern was and continues to be to support this student in every way possible and do all we can to make sure all of our students and staff are safe. The District also immediately notified both the Evanston Police Department and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), who both initiated investigations. The staff member(s) who may have been involved in this serious incident were immediately placed on leave and have not returned to the school pending the outcome of the police investigation.

Today, the District and a number of other parties in the community received a letter hand-delivered by an attorney representing the student and their family. The letter states that the student was sexually assaulted on school grounds by a custodian. The District had not previously shared these details in order to protect the privacy of the student involved and the integrity of the ongoing criminal investigations.

The District has and will continue to cooperate with the Police and DCFS in their ongoing investigations of this matter. Law enforcement authorities and the District will take necessary and appropriate actions against anyone found to be responsible at the conclusion of those investigations.

The safety and security of our students, staff, and schools is and always will be of the highest priority. We conduct fingerprint-based criminal background checks and cross-reference against state and national sexual and violent offender registries as a part of our pre-employment process. We maintain active video monitoring systems in all District 65 schools and we are looking at any other best practices to strengthen the safety in our schools at all times.

We regularly encourage students to talk with their classroom teacher, school administrators and/or District mental health professionals if they have concerns for their own safety or that of others.

We understand that this news is very concerning. Parents, staff or community members with questions about District 65’s practices regarding such matters should contact the Superintendent’s Office at 847-859-8011.

Earlier:

• ETHS Gave 'Sexual Predators Access To Unlimited Prey': Suit
• Staffer Had Sexual Relationship With Student: Prosecutor
• Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Retired Drama Teacher Settled By District