Evanston police say a 14-year-old Evanston Township High School student has been charged with criminal sexual assault in connection with an incident at the school.
Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott says the 14-year-old boy was found by a school safety officer engaging in a sex act in a school stairwell with a 15-year-old female student during school hours Monday.
Parrott says that based on an investigation by the police department’s juvenile bureau in cooperation with school staff, police concluded the male student had forced the female student to perform a sex act against her will.
The male student now has been charged with one count of criminal sexual assault, a class 1 felony, and has been remanded to the custody of the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
How does this happen?
According to the ETHS web site, "This incident is a police matter and all inquiries should be directed to the Evanston Police Department." While I understand that the student is being charged with breaking the law (versus a school rule) and that the release of information is necessarily restricted because minors are involved, etc., I'm not sure I agree with the characterization of the incident as (only) a police matter and that ALL inquiries should be directed to the EPD.
How does something like this happen IN THE BUILDING and DURING SCHOOL HOURS? This is far scarier to me than a fight or illicit drug transaction.
How to keep it from happening
In the hallway, during school hours? Pretty crazy. It's not only a policy and security matter. It's an educational matter.
Young women at some (maybe all?) of our middle schools used to take a class called "healthy relationships" that was supposed to educate them on how to get out of situations like this. I feel badly for the young girl who had to experience this. And what are we doing to teach our community's young men to behave appropriately?
ETHS Security worth the money?
As I recall some years back, ( ten or so ) this same type of event occurred. I believe it was in the stairway.( anyone else remember the event and location?)
Did ETHS learn any thing from the event over ten years ago? ETHS seems to have a history of hiring expense security leadership ( retire EVanston Police Chiefs ) , so why a repeat incident? I wonder if anyone can produce, a document showing the steps ETHS took to improve security in the stairways after the first incident?
I believe our Mayor was the president of the ETHS school board at that time.
Security
Ponzi (aka Junad Rizki) : If you "recall" this happening, and you have a computer and keyboard in front of you, why not practice due diligence and try to identify the said incident from "ten or so" years ago. It really irks me when folks like you pose such questions while conveniently ignoring the "Google" search feature or app the right in front of their eyes.
And having viewed your numerous and insufferable cartoons that only focus on perceived high taxes in Evanston, it only makes sense you'd use this unfortunate incident to kick start your tiresome pontificating about "expense [sic] security leadership" and to bash the mayor by implying ("I believe…"), without factual reporting (ignoring yet again that convenient Google search feature!) that Mayor Tisdahl was on the school board the last time this incident occurred.
In the one minute it took me to search and verify that Tisdahl was indeed a former ETHS school board member and president, I also picked up this little "sour grapes" bit of information:
"[Becoming Evanston's mayor] was a return to public office for Tisdahl, who in 2001 had chosen not to seek re-election to the Evanston Township High School board after 12 years as a member and board president.
She won election to her first full term as alderman in 2005, winning 77 percent of the vote in a race against activist Junad Rizki."
Careful Joe…
you might end up as the focal point of one of Ponzi's next cartoons.
security
Joe Pred ( aka ?) Since you have done several searches, why didn't you bother to research the event? You could have posted the information for all to read. Maybe research you own identity? A comment on here is not is a research article.
Joe or who ever you are, you believe taxes are low here? Please explain. Ponzi cartoons are about the high taxes here, like it or not. There a lot of people here who feel the taxes are high and government is misusing our tax dollars.
Bill is always looking for new cartoonists, please submit a cartoon. on a non-tax topic.
Security can’t prevent everything
How could all of these incidents possibly be prevented? It's an enormous building with 3000 students and a few dozen security guards. There's literally no way that even a majority of the students can be monitored at all times. I think the main purpose of security is to prevent a fight from snowballing into a riot.
Safety
This is an issue of safety, education and criminal activity. I am concerned that the immediate response to this incident is to vilify the victim and imply that there's no way a 14 year old "child" could be a predator to a 15 year old. I am also concerned that when something like this happens, the immediate tendency is to spread the blame to everyone but the person who perpetrated the crime. The act was interrupted and the police were called. Appropriate action was taken by the school and authorities. We should be appalled that it is necessary to think that educators should be expected to deal with this kind of behavior. It is a police matter. The willingness of the young man to undertake such risky criminal behavior was an issue that began outside of school.