WBBM
August 21, 2009
http://www.wbbm780.com/Former-student-sues-Chicago-Hope-Academy-after-sex/5054952
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| Kathryn Vail-Wesley |
CHICAGO (STNG) -- A student-athlete is suing Chicago Hope Academy, alleging the school “turned a blind eye” to sexual abuse and exploitation involving his former math teacher.
The suit, filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, willful and wanton misconduct, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty on behalf of the private Christian high school.
The student-athlete, an unnamed minor, was recruited and enrolled at Chicago Hope Academy, 2189 West Bowler Street in the Near West Side neighborhood on the West Side, in 2005, the suit said.
Beginning in the spring of 2008, when the boy was 16 years old, his math teacher Kathryn Vail-Wesley, 22, “publicly and privately showered Plaintiff with attention and affection,” the suit said.
Vail-Wesley “would hug or touch Plaintiff on an almost daily basis during the 2007-2008 school year, and would invite Plaintiff to her home,” the suit said.
Vail-Wesley was “well-liked” by students, and the boy felt “privileged to receive attention” and looked to her as a “mentor, leader, protector and authority figure,” the suit said.
Vail-Wesley made advances toward the boy and engaged in “pre-sexual grooming” including private phone calls, secret letters and messages and “gratuitous inappropriate and/or intimate discussion regarding her private life and sexual history,” the suit said.
Vail-Wesley eventually propositioned the minor to engage in sexual conduct, explaining to him that she had a particular fondness for him and longed to “mix [his] chocolate skin with [her] vanilla skin,” the suit said.
Beginning in August 2008, through October 2008, while acting as his instructor, mentor and authority figure, Vail-Wesley engaged in “regular and repeated sexual contact” with the boy, the suit said.
Vail-Wesley’s solicitation and sexual exploitation of the boy included sexual touching, kissing, intercourse and other sexual acts. It occurred in various locations, including but not limited to classrooms, passageways, the teacher’s lounge, chapel and other locations on the Academy’s premises, the suit said.
Vail-Wesley explained that her sexual behavior was a “reward” for the boy’s good athletic performance for the school's football team, the suit said. She would attend the boy’s football games exclusively wearing his jersey.
As a result of the alleged conduct, Vail-Wesley has been arrested and charged with sexual assault involving a minor, the suit said. A criminal prosecution is pending in Cook County.
According to the suit, Chicago Hope Academy permitted a culture within the school where teachers were physically affectionate with students, and student-athletes in particular. The Academy also permitted a culture wherein students would regularly be alone with and socialize at the homes of Academy teachers.
In addition, Vail-Wesley’s inappropriate interactions and propensity for sexually deviant behavior towards the minor were “regular and conspicuous” and “should have been apparent” to coaching staff members and/or teachers, the suit said.
The suit alleges the administration did not intervene or prevent the "deviant" sexual behavior even though the staff should have known about their relationship.
“Academy staff turned a blind eye to Vail-Wesley’s inappropriate attention” to the minor, the suit said.
In or about October, 2008, Vail-Wesley’s husband, also a teacher at the Academy, searched for and witnessed Vail-Wesley engaged in sexual conduct with the minor in an Academy classroom, the suit said.
After being removed from the classroom, the minor was physically assaulted by Mr. Wesley and subjected to verbal abuse, scorn and ridicule by administrators, faculty and coaches, the suit said.
Academy President Bob Muzikowski allegedly intimated the boy and blamed him for creating a scandal and interfering with Vail-Wesley’s marriage and career, the suit said.
Academy administration gave the minor an ultimatum to either withdraw from the school or face expulsion, disrupting his normal course of academic study and athletic aspirations, the suit said.
The minor now attends public school in a western suburb. It is not known whether Vail-Wesley still works at the academy.
The three-count suit seeks more than $50,000 on each count, plus the costs of the suit and additional relief.
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