The household of a youngster with autism at Sullivan Excessive College in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood alleges the boy was sexually assaulted by one other scholar in January.
The household filed a lawsuit Monday morning in Prepare dinner County court docket, claiming the college failed to guard the teenager. Household lawyer Cass Casper mentioned the coed had a person schooling program, a plan arrange for college students with particular wants.
“The sufferer was presupposed to have an grownup current with him always. Chicago Public Faculties did not abide by that factor of his particular person schooling plan,” Casper mentioned at a press convention Monday morning. “He walked by himself from his homeroom Tenth-grade classroom into a toilet at Sullivan Excessive College, the place he was viciously sexually assaulted.”
The household is suing Chicago Public Faculties, the Chicago Board of Schooling and three Sullivan Excessive College officers: Assistant Principal John Roseboom, instructor Diedre Denault and one different faculty official who shouldn’t be being named. The lawsuit claims the unnamed staffer is the grandmother of` the alleged perpetrator.
“It’s an outrage that this was allowed to occur,” Casper mentioned. “The sufferer ought to by no means, ever have been allowed to stroll by himself to the lavatory and into the lavatory by himself, permitting this assault to happen. His means to defend himself from a vicious assault like that is sadly nonexistent.”
In an announcement, CPS mentioned the lawsuit cites an incident that’s the topic of an open investigation and so the small print are confidential, however mentioned the district “prioritizes and takes critically its accountability to make sure the protection, safety, and well-being of all college students.”
Casper mentioned the household hopes the lawsuit will forestall comparable failings with different college students with particular wants. He mentioned the Board of Schooling “should make modifications” to make sure that college students who require full-time aides should not left alone.
The lawsuit doesn’t title the household or the sufferer. The sister of the sufferer spoke at Monday’s press convention.
“My primary message is for folks to be extra conscious of their youngsters. In the event that they see any sort of indicators from their youngsters, to pay attention to their youngsters and to make sure to advocate for them,” mentioned the lady, who spoke anonymously to guard her brother’s identification. “They want a voice to advocate for them.”
In response to the lawsuit, “one other scholar entered the lavatory and witnessed the incident, offering rapid corroboration of the assault.” Casper mentioned a faculty worker was standing close to the lavatory when the assault occurred and helped to scrub up the sufferer afterwards however discouraged him from sharing what occurred with others.
The household says they reported the incident to the Chicago Police Division, however nothing has occurred, based on Casper.
Casper additionally claims Sullivan faculty officers have stonewalled the household, they usually allege that the perpetrator could also be a relative of a faculty official.
“The household reported this to the college the very subsequent day. They needed to come into the college themselves. They needed to demand to see the principal, which they had been denied,” Casper mentioned.
The sufferer stopped going to Sullivan and has since been positioned at one other faculty, which Capser says is “utterly insufficient.”
Michael Puente is a reporter and anchor at WBEZ. You possibly can attain him at mpuente@wbez.org or observe him on X @MikePuenteNews or on Bluesky @mikepuentenews.bsky.social.
