By Carlos Sadovi
Chicago Tribune
June 7, 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-2-teachers-charged-with-attacking-students-20110607,0,1833004.story
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| Eliza Martinelli (Chicago Police Department / June 7, 2011) |
Two teachers have been charged with sexually assaulting five students of a Christian school on the Northwest Side.
The teachers, who are brother and sister, worked at the Dayspring Christian Academy, 5133 W. Fullerton Ave., where their father is the leader of the school and pastor of the affiliated Dayspring Church, according to prosecutors.
The alleged abuse occurred over 10 years, from 1998 to 2007, prosecutors said.
Eliza Martinelli, 34, of the 1500 block of South Raymond Drive in Naperville, is accused of assaulting four students -- three females and a male -- between the ages of 13 and 17. She is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault of minors and supplying alcohol to minors. She was ordered held on $1.5 million bail today.
Her brother, Nelson Quintana Jr., 27, whose home address is listed as the school, is accused of abusing one student who is now 23. He is charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal sexual abuse.
The abuse began with “sexual stories” between her and a then-14-year-old student and advanced into sexual abuse at Martinelli's house and the victim’s house, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Kathy Muldoon.
Martinelli gave the victim alcohol to “facilitate the abuse,” which ended in 2001, Muldoon said.
From March 2003 to March 2006, Martinelli repeatedly assaulted a teenage girl and her younger brother, whom she had met through the church, Muldoon said. On one occasion, Martinelli babysat for the victims while their parents were out of town, and sexually assaulted the girl and the boy.
“Again, she got them all drunk to facilitate these assaults,” Muldoon said.
In 2006, Martinelli began sexually assaulting another 14-year-old girl, who was her 6th grade student, Muldoon said. The alleged abuse ended in July 2007.
One of the victims reported the abuse to authorities in April and then the others came forward, police said.
Martinelli has no previous criminal history. Her husband, Scott Martinelli, said outside court the family was shocked by the allegations. He said his wife of 15 years had some psychological problems in the past, but had been seeing a therapist recently and was “really, really turning her life around.”
The couple awoke early Monday to the sound of Chicago police knocking on their door to arrest her, he said.
Martinelli appeared in court dressed in a black shirt and pink flip flops, her hair in a braid. She answered “yes” softly when Judge Ramon Ocasio III asked if she understood the charges.
Dayspring has about 100 students from pre-K through 12th grade, Scott Martinelli said. He said his wife stopped teaching there in March.
The school had no comment on the allegations.
Contact: csadovi@tribune.com
Contact: jmeisner@tribune.com
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