Little Village High School
CHICAGO - Chicago Public Schools has agreed to pay $17.5 million to a young woman to settle her claims that a male dean at Little Lawndale High School sexually abused her for years, allegedly culminating in two pregnancies that ended in coerced abortions, both of which allegedly occurred before she graduated high school.
On Dec. 3, the Chicago Board of Education, which oversees CPS, signed off unanimously on the settlement with the woman, identified only as Jane Doe.
The settlement was announced by the woman's attorneys from the firm of Gould Grieco & Hensley, of Chicago.
In a prepared statement, attorney Bryce Hensley said the legal team was "incredibly proud" of Doe "and the difference that she has made for herself, her family, the hundreds of thousands of students currently in CPS, and the millions that will walk their halls in the future.
"This case was about sending a message that children and their safety must always be the Board of Education’s number one priority and when they are not, there is a steep price to pay," Hensley said.
According to the GGH firm, the settlement ranks as the highest financial award for a school sexual abuse claim in Illinois history and the second largest payout for a sexual abuse case of any kind in Illinois history.
According to the release, the settlement was reached hours before the woman was set to proceed to trial in Cook County Circuit Court over her claims of alleged severe sexual abuse at the hands of her high school dean, which allegedly began when she was 15 years old.
Doe had filed suit in April 2024, asserting others within Little Lawndale High School and CPS were aware of at least the possibility of the abuse, allegedly at the hands of Brian Crowder, former dean of students at the high school.
LVLHS includes four autonomous small schools: Multicultural Academy of Scholarship High School; Infinity Math, Science and Technology High School; World Language High School; and Social Justice High School. In all, each of the schools educate about 400 students.
According to the complaint, the student attended Social Justice High School from 2012-2016. She is now at least 25 years old.
According to the complaint, Crowder allegedly used the social media instant messaging service SnapChat to begin a relationship with the student and to groom her for later abuse.
According to the complaint, Crowder allegedly sent "increasingly inappropriate images" to the student on SnapChat, including allegedly sexually explicit messages.
The behavior allegedly escalated to taking the student on dates, and to his home during her sophomore year. Allegedly, during that time, Crowder allegedly engaged in sex acts with the student.
This allegedly continued for years, according to the complaint. Twice during that period, the student allegedly became pregnant, and twice Crowder persuaded her to secretly get abortions to cover up his alleged abuse. According to the complaint, Crowder allegedly took the student to abortion clinics, where he allegedly claimed to be her parent to sidestep a law then on the books requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortions.
The lawsuit did not indicate which abortion clinics may have performed the abortions.
The plaintiffs said Crowder allegedly signed consent forms for both procedures under a false name. It doesn't state if the clinics required Crowder to verify his identity before conducting the abortions.
That parental authorization law, however, is no longer in effect, after Gov. JB Pritzker and the Democratic supermajority in the Illinois General Assembly repealed the parental notification requirement in 2022, claiming it would place too many restrictions in the path of women seeking abortions.
Anti-abortion supporters of the law asserted the repeal would allow sex traffickers and other abusers of young girls to use abortions to cover up their misconduct, with no questions asked.
According to the complaint, Crowder allegedly told the student he loved her and would have children with her when she became an adult.
According to the complaint, after the abortions, the student "lived in constant fear and would cry regularly before and after going to and from the school."
The complaint asserted the student believed she could not tell anyone about her situation, because Crowder, as dean of students, was "in charge of discipline of teachers and students" at the school.
The complaint did not explain why the student's parents never became involved in the situation.
However, other staff and administrators were aware of "how much time was spent alone" between Crowder and the student, and would "make jokes about a romantic interest."
Further, the lawsuit asserted Doe told at least one teacher about the sexual abuse, but the teacher did nothing. The GGH release said they learned "this teacher was alleged to have also groomed and abused a minor student from the school."
And the complaint asserted Crowder allegedly told other teachers and staff at the high school, who he asserted were also "grooming students," about the sexual relationship with Doe. Those other teachers and staff allegedly also did nothing.
Crowder was ultimately charged with criminal sexual assault in 2022. He was ousted from his position in 2021.
Attorney Martin Gould said the case has revealed "a significant need for improvement to better keep students safe" from sexual abuse in the Chicago Public Schools.
“The Chicago Public School system has had long history of problems with widespread grooming and abuse of students, staff regularly failing to report known or suspected abuse, a failure to discipline staff who violate safety policies, and inadequate training and supervision," Gould said.
He noted the woman intends to donate a portion of her settlement to help pay for an evaluation of CPS "policies and training pertaining to child sex abuse prevention and provide recommendations for improvement" through CHILD USA's Gold Standard Prevention Program.
"We applaud our client for her desire to protect others from experiencing the same trauma she endured, and hope and expect the Chicago Board of Education to agree to the proposal, and work collaboratively with CHILD USA’s expert team for the shared goal of making sure the best policies and training are in place to ensure our schools and children are safe," Gould said.
