Lake Forest School Sued Over Sexual Assault Of Student

LAKE FOREST, IL — Lawyers for a former student at a Lake Forest private school who was sexually abused by a teacher filed a lawsuit against the school Wednesday in Lake County Circuit Court. The former Montessori School of Lake Forest teacher, Celina M. Montoya, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to criminal sexual assault. The lawsuit is seeking damages from the school for the suffering experienced by the student, identified as John Doe, as a result of "the school's negligence."

The school said it fully cooperated with authorities but declined to answer questions about whether it believes it acted appropriately in this case or provide details about its response to the abuse.

In 2010, Montoya began teaching at the Montessori school's middle school campus at 32470 Harris Rd. in Grayslake, according to a statement from the school's executive director, Ann Jordahl.

According to the suit, Montoya was a teacher as Doe entered eighth grade at age 13. She allegedly groomed him with inappropriate conversations and sent him sexual text messages and nude photos, telling him that she loved him and that they would get married one day.

Montoya allegedly hugged and kissed him on campus during and after school hours. She used her position as a teacher to spend long periods alone with Doe during school, at "private lunches" and during "after-school tutoring sessions," according to the suit.

Jordahl said the "sexual misconduct" did not occur on school property or during school hours, and only involved "this one former student."

Lawyers for Doe claim that the school failed to provide adequate supervision and did not have a full-time administrator on-site whenever students and teachers were together, as required. And despite plenty of signs of an inappropriate relationship the school took no action, according to the suit.

"There were ample warning signs that Montoya had an inappropriate relationship with John," said Doe's attorney, Dan Kotin. "The school has a duty to protect their students, and Montoya's behavior went unchecked for years, which is a blatant disregard for the victim's well-being."

The suit said the school "received actual knowledge" of the illegal relationship during the spring of 2013.

Jordahl said the school "learned for the first time" of Montoya's conduct in the fall of 2013 and contacted the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services.

Also that fall, Doe discussed the details of his relationship with Montoya to a therapist and reported her to local police.

The school declined to respond to queries about the specifics of when it learned of the abuse and when it reported it to DCFS.

"Montessori School of Lake Forest holds itself as a top-notch private school with the best teachers, the safest environment and a high student-to-teacher ratio that makes it ideal for learning," said attorney Dave Ring, announcing the suit. "Yet, during John's time as a student, it's clear that supervision fell well below the standard of care, allowing Montoya to sexually abuse John for many years."

According to the former student's lawyers, the teacher was hiding information about the boy being depressed and suicidal:

During the Spring of 2013, concerns about Montoya's relationship with John were brought to the school's attention. Shortly afterwards, Montoya confessed that the student had confided to her that he was depressed and suicidal and that she purposely did not report it. Rather than immediately dismiss Montoya from her position at the school, administrators allowed her to finish out the school year, where she continued her relationship with John. John finally told his parents about the abuse perpetrated by Montoya, and as a result, an investigation was launched, leading to Montoya's arrest and prosecution. In January 2016, Montoya was convicted and sentenced to four years in state prison for her criminal misconduct towards the student.

"We remain deeply saddened by this matter," said Jordahl, the head of the school, in a statement in response to the lawsuit.

She alleged the school had "not shared this information with our community earlier as the former student's family was concerned about respecting the privacy, confidentiality and emotional well-being of their child."

Jordahl said Montoya was no longer employed by the school after June 2013 but did not say why she left.

The school declined to respond to a query about why Montoya left her position in June, months prior to when Jordahl said the school became aware of the abuse.

Read the complete statement issued Wednesday by the head of the school, Executive Director Ann Jordahl:

Dear Montessori School of Lake Forest Community,

You might recently have become aware of news reports about a lawsuit that was filed today against Montessori School of Lake Forest. It is our school policy not to discuss specific details concerning any matter in litigation, nor do we comment on confidential student matters, as we respect the legal process and must safeguard the privacy of our students, alumni and their families.

The lawsuit has been filed by a former student and relates to sexual misconduct by a former Montessori School of Lake Forest teacher, Celina Montoya, who taught at our middle school from August 2010 to June 2013. In the fall of 2013, we learned for the first time of Ms. Montoya’s behavior from law enforcement. While she was no longer an employee of the school, we immediately contacted the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services. She was subsequently banned from both campuses and prohibited from contacting our school’s current students, alumni and parents. We fully cooperated with law enforcement authorities in their investigation. Ms. Montoya was arrested, pleaded guilty to criminal misconduct, and was sentenced to prison. She remains incarcerated. Law enforcement authorities who investigated this matter told us that the sexual misconduct by Ms. Montoya, which is the subject of this lawsuit, did not occur at school, during school hours, or on school property, and involved this one former student. We have not shared this information with our community earlier as the former student’s family was concerned about respecting the privacy, confidentiality and emotional well-being of their child. We honored the family’s request for confidentiality.

A healthy, caring and inspiring educational environment is the cornerstone of our school experience. The safety and well-being of our students is paramount. Any violation of that trust is a betrayal felt by all members of our community. We remain deeply saddened by this matter.

We continue to have robust child protection policies in place and are always reviewing them to ensure that our students are as safe as possible.

We have long maintained standard hiring protocols for every employee, including background and reference checks.

Training of our employees is essential. We provide annual training to all employees in their role as a mandated reporter and in maintaining professional boundaries and communications. All employees are required to annually certify their awareness of and compliance with the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, specifically, as mandated reporters, and review the Manual for Mandated Reporters.

Employees are encouraged to refer any questions about boundary issues to the Executive Director.

Students and parents are encouraged to refer any questions or concerns directly to the Executive Director.

We understand how upsetting this is to our community. We will offer counseling to any current or former students who wish to receive it.

We remain vigilant as protection of all of our students is a critical and ongoing process. I ask for your patience during this difficult time. While I am not in a position to comment on legal matters, should anyone have information to share information about any inappropriate conduct by Ms. Montoya, or any past or current employee of our school, please call me at 847-918-1000. In addition, should you have any questions about our school’s safety policies and procedures, or if you wish to share comments, I am happy to hear from you.

My door is always open.

Sincerely,

Ann Jordahl
Executive Director
Montessori School of Lake Forest

A preliminary hearing on the case is due for May 17, according to the Lake County Clerk.

Convicted in January 2016, Montoya is due to be paroled May 2019, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.