Teachers, coaches, and other adults in the Cook County school system, along with professors from Chicago-area colleges and universities, know that sexual contact with students is forbidden. Unfortunately, knowing that actions are immoral and criminal does not always stop those with student oversight from crossing this line.
Sexual abuse in Chicago schools and universities is more common than you realize. The Office of Inspector General for the Chicago Board of Education recently received 470 sexual abuse complaints by students against the state’s public school employees in just one year. Adults who engage in improper relationships with minors can be criminally charged, and a child’s parents or guardians can also seek compensation for the damage inflicted. At Kaveny + Kroll, our attorneys can assess your personal experience to determine if compensation is owed to your family.
Schools, Universities, and Sexual Abuse
The sexual abuse cases featured in news stories often focus on teachers engaging in relationships with underage students. However, other individuals in the education system can also be responsible for abuse, including principals, substitute teachers, coaches, volunteers, or any adult tasked with guiding and protecting students. Although the age of consent in Illinois is 17, high schools and local universities enforce policies that forbid professors with agency over a student’s success from engaging in relationships with them, even if they are no longer minors. Students younger than 17 are not legally capable of consenting to a sexual relationship, which can lead to statutory rape charges for an adult perpetrator.
Sexual abuse involves inappropriate touching such as fondling, hugging, and kissing, sexual relationships, or sexual conduct, including sharing pornography with a student or photographing them in compromising poses.
About 35 percent of the adults working in the education system and arrested for improper sexual conduct with a student use social media to target and gain a student’s trust, leading to victimization.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that can also be used when school districts fail to follow protocols for safeguarding children from sexual abuse and harassment. If you have been impacted by sexual abuse in an educational institution in Chicago, our experienced and caring attorneys can help you file a civil claim for compensation.
What To Do if Your Child Confides They Were Assaulted by a Teacher?
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE). It offers suggestions to parents if a child confides they experienced inappropriate sexual contact by a teacher, which includes:
- Reassure your child that they are not to blame and you are not angry
- Consult your child’s doctor to retrieve possible evidence to press criminal charges and substantiate a civil claim
- Make a report to RAINN’s Sexual Assault Hotline and the Chicago Police
- Preserve clothing for possible DNA evidence
- Contact a personal injury attorney to discuss holding the teacher, school, and school district liable for physical and emotional harm done to your child
At Kaveny + Kroll, we fight for compensation to cover medical treatment, including counseling, and for the emotional and psychological trauma a student endures when an adult at a Chicago school or university commits sexual abuse.
Contact Our Chicago Attorneys Following Sexual Abuse in a School or University
Exploiting a child’s or teen’s fragile sexuality is never okay. While the State can bring criminal charges to punish a perpetrator, you, as a parent of a sexually abused child, can bring civil charges to compensate for what is taken from them, including physical well-being, psychological trauma, and loss of trust in adults who are supposed to be guiding them.
At Kaveny + Kroll, our attorneys have been advocating for families like yours for over 65 years. We respect your situation and care about the outcome of your case. We have a track record of successful civil actions that have delivered compensation for sexual abuse in Chicago schools and universities.
We put the “personal” in personal injury, and can hold the adult who violated your child’s trust responsible for the harm inflicted on your child and your family. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your case.