Lawsuit claims Lockport District 205 failed to protect student from sexual assault

A lawsuit filed in Cook County claims Lockport Township High School District 205 officials failed to protect a female student from an alleged sexual assault by a male student basketball player who the suit claims has a history of sexual abuse.

The lawsuit was filed Monday by the parents of the female student who is known only as Jane Doe. Her parents also are proceeding in the case under the fictitious name of Jane Doe 2 and John Doe. Chicago-based GWC Injury Lawyers are representing the parents.

The parents’ lawsuit claims District 205 Superintendent Robert McBride and Anthony Cundari, assistant superintendent of personnel, were aware of the male student athlete’s past history of sexual abuse to other students but allowed him to “continue living an otherwise normal high school experience.”

“District 205 did not advise Jane Doe, or any other students, of assailant’s history of sexual misconduct. No restrictions or other preventative measures were implemented by District 205 for the protection of students interacting with assailant, including Jane Doe,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleged on Dec. 9, 2022, the male student sexually assaulted Jane Doe at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park. The two students were at the school because the Lockport boys basketball team was playing there that day, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accused McBride, Cundari and District 205 of willful and wanton misconduct for recklessly and carelessly allowing a student with “known propensities for sexual assault to be alone with other females students.”

A call to McBride’s office was not returned Tuesday. McBride and Cundari did not respond to messages about the lawsuit.

In a statement, District 205 spokeswoman Jeannette Castillo said, “In matters of litigation, the Lockport Township Township High School District 205 does not comment.”

The lawsuit claims the male student who allegedly committed the assault of Jane Doe on Dec. 9, 2022, did not return on a Lockport bus with his teammates because he was “apprehended by law enforcement and taken into custody.”

The male student then “transferred schools without undergoing formal expulsion proceedings,” according to the lawsuit.

Tinley Park Deputy Police Chief Lawrence Rafferty said the department investigated an assault at Andrew High School in a case that involved juveniles and an arrest was made. He did not provide further details on the case and said he was unsure of the charges.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s Office referred questions about whether charges were filed to the “arresting police agency.” They did not provide further details on the case as of Tuesday.

The lawsuit claims there were two other female students who were victimized by the male student.

The first known incident occurred in the fall of 2021 and was reported to a District 205 teacher, according to the lawsuit. Another reportedly occurred in March 2022 and a district employee was notified of the incident.

Both of them were investigated by law enforcement, according to the lawsuit.

Lockport Deputy Police Chief Ron Huff did not respond to questions about those incidents Tuesday.

The parents of Jane Doe are also suing Consolidated High School District 230, the Orland Park-based district that operates Andrew High School, in order to obtain “information which may disclose the basis for claims against additional defendants.”

District 230 spokeswoman Jennifer Waterman said while the high school is “aware of the situation,” this is a “legal matter and one that pertains to Lockport D205 and responding agencies.”