Kaneland Harter Middle School teacher charged with giving alcohol, marijuana to minor

A Lakewood man who works as a special education teacher at Kaneland Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove is charged with providing a minor with alcohol and marijuana, McHenry County court records show.

Steven R. Ostergaard, 36, of the 9000 block of Lenox Lane, is charged with a criminal misdemeanor contributing to the criminal delinquency of a minor, according to the complaint filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

The minor involved is a McHenry County resident and not connected to Ostergaard’s school, Police Chief Mike Roth said.

Ostergaard is a special education teacher at the middle school, according to the Lakewood police report. As of Friday, he was listed on the school’s website as a special education teacher. Calls made to the school district seeking comment were not returned.

He is accused of giving a person under the age of 21 alcohol and marijuana “several times” between December 2020 and February 2021 at his Lakewood home, according to the criminal complaint.

Ostergaard was hailed a hero in 2012 after rescuing a group of his students from a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, when a gunman opened fire.

The gunman killed 12 people and injured 50 inside a theater where Ostergaard and his group of 11 14- to 21-year-olds were seated. One of Ostergaard’s students was struck by shrapnel.

Ostergaard quickly hurried his group out of the theater, according to reporting at the time. They was in Aurora attending a national conference: Friends: Association of Young People Who Stutter.

Ostergaard, a 2003 graduate of Cary-Grove High School, was working as a special education teacher at the time at a school in Waukegan.

As of Friday, no lawyer was listed for Ostergaard in court documents. When reached Friday, Ostergaard referred questions to his attorney but did not provide a name or phone number.

He is due in court May 26.