ILLINOIS SCHOOLS SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in Illinois Schools

Illinois schools face multiple lawsuits alleging students were sexually abused by teachers, staff, and school officials across districts statewide. 

Levy Konigsberg is investigating sexual abuse claims in Illinois schools, including Chicago Public Schools, where hundreds of complaints were reported.

Schools across Illinois have faced mounting legal action over the sexual abuse of students by teachers, deans, security guards, and other school employees. Cases span public school districts throughout the state, with settlements and jury verdicts reaching into the millions of dollars and criminal convictions against former school officials. When a child is sexually abused by a teacher or school official trusted to care for and educate them, no family should endure the pain of knowing their child was harmed in a place meant to protect them.

At Levy Konigsberg, we stand with families demanding accountability and real change. 

If you or your child was sexually abused in an Illinois school, reach out today.

Sex Abuse Scandals in Illinois Schools

In January 2023, it was reported that Chicago Board of Education Inspector General Will Fletcher reported 470 sexual misconduct complaints against Chicago Public School employees from students in 2022. The report details students being abused, groped, groomed, assaulted and threatened by school officials.

Examples of alleged abuse, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse within Illinois schools, include the following:

Farragut Career Academy

• In March 2026, a lawsuit was filed against Chicago Public Schools alleging a female security guard at Farragut Career Academy groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted a student between 2012 and 2015.

The lawsuit alleged CPS never reported the allegations to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services or police. The guard’s mother, who worked in the school’s administration office, allegedly helped conceal the allegations.

• In August 2025, a civil lawsuit was filed against former Farragut Career Academy security guard Romel Campoverde and the Chicago Board of Education, alleging the board failed to properly vet Campoverde, who had 16 prior arrests. 

In July 2023, Campoverde was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault for allegedly grooming and raping a 15-year-old student. He now faces 11 charges, ranging from criminal sexual assault to aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Little Village Lawndale High School

Homewood-Flossmoor High School

• In March 2025, a $3.5 million settlement was reached in a lawsuit against the Board of Education of Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233 involving the alleged sexual assault of a student during a theater class in October 2022. The school reportedly notified the victim’s mother about the rape, but then confined her mother to a conference room at the school without providing any information about her daughter’s condition.  Flossmoor police confirmed that they reported to the school for a report of criminal sexual assault and that a juvenile was detained and questioned, but not charged.

J. Sterling Morton High School

• In March 2025, a jury awarded $15 million against the Board of Education of J. Sterling Morton High School District 201, finding it liable for failing to protect a male student from grooming and sexual abuse by a female teacher.

Downers Grove South High School

• Also in March 2025, Christina Formella, a former Downers Grove South High School teacher and soccer coach, was charged with criminal sexual assault of a student. In December 2023, the victim and Formella were reportedly in a classroom for a tutoring session before school began, when Formella sexually assaulted the boy.  The victim’s mother reportedly discovered the alleged assault when looking through her son’s text message thread on his cell phone.

Westchester Middle School

• In November 2024, a former student at Westchester Middle School filed a lawsuit against the school district alleging she was sexually abused by her volleyball coach and teacher, Dawn Chester (then Dawn Lach). According to the lawsuit, in 1998, the victim participated in a school-sponsored overnight camp in Wisconsin, where Chester served as a chaperone. During the trip, Chester reportedly touched the victim inappropriately. Afterward, the lawsuit alleges that Chester wrote fake detentions for the victim, requiring them to spend time alone together before school, where Chester sexually abused her. Chester reportedly resigned after the girl’s mother told the school about the abuse, but she went on to teach at other Chicago area middle schools for more than two decades.

Fenwick High School

• In November 2024, Fenwick High School settled a lawsuit filed in 2022 by a former student alleging the school covered up and enabled sexual abuse by former teacher Matthew Dineen in the mid-1990s. He allegedly groomed and sexually abused female students at Fenwick. Some of the girls were allegedly abused at the school. According to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Oak Park police, the abuse was never reported to the police. 

Lawsuits filed in 2023 by two other former students were also recently settled.

In November 2010, Dineen worked as a teacher at a Maine high school. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful sexual touching of a 16-year-old student at that school.

• In April 2022, a former student publicly accused former teacher John Quinn of repeatedly touching her between 2013 and 2014.

In the same month, a second former student came forward, alleging Quinn subjected her to daily sexual harassment in class and on at least one occasion slid his hand under her bra strap over her blouse.

A police report also noted an alleged incident involving Quinn and an 18-year-old male student in 1990.

• During the 1960s, a Fenwick priest, Rev. John Gambro, allegedly had a student strip naked so he could photograph him.

Former students have also accused other Fenwick faculty of sexual misconduct dating back decades, including former teacher and counselor Rev. William P. Farrell.

Lake Forest High School

• In October 2023, a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against former Lake Forest High School drama teacher David Miller. The judge ruled the former students sufficiently alleged the district covered up the abuse and created an environment that allowed Miller’s abuse to continue. The district never reported the allegations against Miller to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services or the Illinois State Board of Education. A 2021 investigation commissioned by the district identified 14 former students as victims or survivors of abuse by Miller.
• In May 2021, seven former students filed two federal lawsuits against Lake Forest High School and Lake Forest Community High School District 115, alleging the school knew about sexual abuse by two former teachers and did nothing.

Six male former students alleged that David Miller, who taught at the school from 1966 to 2009, groomed and sexually abused male students for nearly 35 years. 

Another former student alleged that Cynthia Martin, a former teacher and coach, provided her with alcohol and drugs and sexually abused her in the late 1980s.

Evanston Township High School (ETHS)

• In December 2021, the Evanston Township High School (ETHS) superintendent acknowledged the district could have done better in handling complaints against former employee Lorenzo Medrano, who was arrested in Indiana in September 2021 and charged with child seduction for allegedly groping a female student.

Former students alleged Medrano inappropriately touched them and walked in on them while they were changing clothes.

The staff allegedly did not report any complaint to the police.

• In October 2021, ETHS paid $225,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a former student and her mother over sexual abuse by school security guards that occurred between 2015 and 2019.
• In April 2021, an amended complaint in a federal lawsuit alleged that security guard Michael Haywood sexually assaulted a former student more than 40 times on campus, near campus, and at the home he shared with his girlfriend (an ETHS teacher), and that he assaulted at least three other students. Haywood allegedly sent students pornographic text messages and provided them with alcohol and marijuana.

Haywood was arrested in February 2019 for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student — a different victim than the one in the federal lawsuit. In February 2021, he pleaded guilty in his criminal case. In September 2020, a federal judge entered a $3 million default judgment against Haywood.

The original lawsuit, filed in August 2019, alleged a systematic failure to report allegations of sexual abuse against Haywood and one other security guard.

• In January 2019, ETHS settled lawsuits brought by former students who alleged the district failed to detect a pattern of abuse by former theater teacher Bruce Siewerth.

In October 2017, two lawsuits were filed in Cook County against Siewerth, the high school, the Evanston Board of Education, and the district by two former students who attended ETHS between 1976 and 1980. Evanston police investigated at least 35 individual allegations against Siewerth.

Siewerth allegedly cornered one student in the theater shop and molested him. He allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior like spanking students, pulling down their pants, and discussing the size of their genitals. He allegedly brought students to view pornography during theater trips to New York City. The lawsuits described Siewerth’s misconduct as an open secret within the school.

LK is Investigating Sexual Abuse Claims in Illinois Schools

Levy Konigsberg is investigating cases of sexual abuse and assault that occurred in Illinois schools.

You may have a potential claim if you were sexually abused in any Illinois school, including but not limited to, the following schools, archdioceses, or districts:

• Bishop McNamara High School
• Board of Education of Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233
• Board of Education of J. Sterling Morton High School District 201
• Downers Grove South High School
• Evanston Township High School (ETHS)
• Farragut Career Academy
• Fenwick High School
• Holy Angels Catholic School
• Lake Forest High School
• Marist High School
• Marmion Academy
• Mount Carmel High School
• Providence Catholic High School
• St. Ann’s Elementary School
• St. Cyril Catholic School
• St. Rita High School
• Westchester Middle School

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if:

• You were sexually abused by a teacher or staff at a school.
• The abuse occurred at any school.

Levy Konigsberg represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold schools accountable for their failures to stop abusive teachers and staff.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Illinois Sexual Abuse Attorneys

Sexual abuse lawsuits, like other claims brought by plaintiffs who seek damages for injuries, are subject to a legal deadline known as the statute of limitations. When the statute of limitations expires, victims will not be able to file a claim or recover compensation.

Determining the statute of limitations in your claim can be challenging, as there are many factors to consider. In Illinois, the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse claims brought by victims who were abused as minors is generally as follows:

• Claims brought by survivors of childhood sexual abuse (abuse that occurred when the victim was under 18 years of age) may be commenced at any time for victims who were born on or after July 24, 1983.

Determining the statute of limitations that applies to your sexual abuse case against an Illinois school or Illinois Catholic school can be challenging, which is why it is best to bring your matter to the attention of an experienced lawyer.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in schools. Our experienced team is dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors, and we are actively investigating allegations of abuse. We are working tirelessly to ensure that survivors have access to justice and that future generations of young people are safe from harm within these institutions.