According to the Sexual Allegations Unit for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), there have been at least 308 new cases of sexual abuse or assault opened this year against CPS staff, representing a 12% increase over last year.
The Sexual Allegations Unit said 308 new cases have been opened.
“Beyond the volume of complaints we have also seen more serious allegations,” said Amber Nesbitt, CPS deputy inspector general. “So just in 2024, actually as of this morning, we are at 21 staff members have been pulled or blocked compared to nine last year.”
“That tells me we are moving in the right direction, that people are less afraid to come forward or people know to come forward,” said Cass Casper, attorney for CPS students.
Casper represents three students who allege a teacher groomed them and assaulted them over several years. Former CPS employee Andrew Castro has been charged with criminal sex assault and sexual exploitation of a child.
After filing a civil case against Castro and the Board of Education, Casper’s law firm set up a hotline for school sex abuse complaints. So far, they report dozens of calls and emails they are investigating.
In the Annual Report for 2022, Chicago Board of Education Inspector General Will Fletcher reported 470 sexual complaints against CPS employees from students.
The report details students being abused, groped, groomed, assaulted, and even threatened by school personnel and officials. More than 25% of the complaints involved allegations of sexual violence.
The number sharp rise in complaints for the 2023-24 school year, with three months left, suggests the next annual report will be grim.
This comes at a time when the Chicago Board of Education is actively removing protection from city schools.
The Gateway Pundit reported that on Thursday, the Chicago Board of Education voted unanimously to remove school resource officers from Chicago Public Schools.
Schools will be required to remove uniformed police officers before the next school year starts.
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
