Former CPS high school dean found guilty of sexually abusing student
A former Chicago Public Schools dean was found guilty on Wednesday of sexually abusing a student at Little Village Lawndale High School, the victim's attorneys said.
Brian Crowder was charged with criminal sexual assault in 2022 after the victim said she was coerced into a relationship with him.
In April 2024, CBS News Chicago spoke with the woman only known as Jane Doe. She said she was sexually abused from 2013 until 2016 by Crowder, the dean of the Greater Lawndale School for Social Justice.
Her lawsuit also claimed that school employees had failed to act when they discovered the relationship.
The attorneys on Thursday said that after two abortions, she told a teacher about the sexual abuse. Still, it was allegedly never reported to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
The attorneys for the victim responded to the verdict, saying, in part:
"We are deeply proud of our client's strength and composure as she courageously testified in open court about the grooming, exploitation and sexual abuse she endured by her Dean which began when she was a 15-year-old student. Her voice — and those of the seven other survivors we represent who were groomed and abused by Little Village Lawndale High School staff — have pierced the silence that allowed this pattern of abuse to persist for far too long."
