Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Oswego School District 308 along with former teacher and coach face lawsuit alleging sexual harassment
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Oswego School District threeh eight along with former teacher and
- 0:08Speaker 1: coach based lawsuit alleging sexual harassment. Written by Eric Shelkopf,
- 0:16Speaker 1: this article is being read by an automated voice brought
- 0:19Speaker 1: to you by Everlett. Four former Oswego High School students
- 0:24Speaker 1: file the lawsuit in Kendall County Circuit Court on Wednesday,
- 0:26Speaker 1: alleging years of grooming, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct by
- 0:30Speaker 1: a former District three to oh eight teacher and coach,
- 0:33Speaker 1: along with systemic failures by the district to protect students
- 0:38Speaker 1: named in the lawsuit as Sean Staffeld and the District
- 0:40Speaker 1: three toh eight school board. The ninety page lawsuit, which
- 0:45Speaker 1: seeks damages of more than fifty thousand dollars, was filed
- 0:48Speaker 1: by Chicago based This Party law group on behalf of
- 0:50Speaker 1: the former students. Staffeld could not be reached for comment.
- 0:56Speaker 1: The one thing I feel that I need to emphasize
- 0:58Speaker 1: is that a large reason where stating in front of
- 1:00Speaker 1: you today is for all of the children that God
- 1:02Speaker 1: forbid have experienced or are currently experiencing, something similar, said
- 1:06Speaker 1: one of the plaintiffs and former student, Jillian Lake, during
- 1:09Speaker 1: a press conference. Wednesday. We hope that this makes you
- 1:12Speaker 1: feel safe to come forward. Oswego School District three z
- 1:16Speaker 1: eight chief communications officer Theresa Comita said the district has
- 1:19Speaker 1: not been formally served with the lawsuit. We will provide
- 1:25Speaker 1: further comment in the event the district is served and
- 1:27Speaker 1: after it has reviewed the official documentation. She said. This
- 1:32Speaker 1: is the second time in two years the district has
- 1:34Speaker 1: faced such a lawsuit. In June twenty twenty four, the
- 1:37Speaker 1: district and the Oswego School Board reached a nine hundred
- 1:39Speaker 1: and thirteen five hundred dollars settlement agreement with a former
- 1:42Speaker 1: Oswego East High School student who alleged in a federal
- 1:45Speaker 1: lawsuit that she was sexually abused by a former Oswego
- 1:48Speaker 1: East teacher. That former student had also been represented by
- 1:53Speaker 1: disparty law group. According to the complaint, the district received
- 1:58Speaker 1: warnings and complaints dating back years about Staffold's behavior, including
- 2:01Speaker 1: reports from staff members and a written warning issued in
- 2:04Speaker 1: twenty seventeen directing him to maintain professionalism and prohibiting him
- 2:09Speaker 1: from allegedly hugging and touching students. The lawsuit alleges the
- 2:14Speaker 1: district failed to take meaningful action to protect students. Staffold
- 2:18Speaker 1: resigned from the district in July twenty twenty after the
- 2:21Speaker 1: district initiated an investigation into his alleged behavior. These four
- 2:26Speaker 1: brave young women endured years of grooming, sexual harassment, sexual abuse,
- 2:30Speaker 1: and manipulation by their former Oswego High School teacher and coach,
- 2:34Speaker 1: Sean STAFFOLDT Cass Casper of Disparty Law Group set at
- 2:38Speaker 1: the press conference. This case is about holding both Staffold
- 2:41Speaker 1: and Oswego School District three to eight accountable for a
- 2:43Speaker 1: pattern of predatory conduct that the district knew about but
- 2:47Speaker 1: failed to stop. Staffold was a physical education teacher and
- 2:53Speaker 1: a football, wrestling, and track coach at Oswego High School
- 2:56Speaker 1: for approximately twelve years. The lawsuit alleges that after he resigned,
- 3:02Speaker 1: District three oh eight failed to enforce a no trespassing
- 3:05Speaker 1: order banning him from school grounds. The district repeatedly failed
- 3:10Speaker 1: to enforce this order, allowing Staffold to violate it with
- 3:13Speaker 1: impunity in twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five and
- 3:16Speaker 1: creating the potential for more victims. The lawsuit states, in
- 3:19Speaker 1: September twenty twenty five, after Staffelds repeated in fractions and
- 3:22Speaker 1: presents on school grounds. Multiple victims publicly disclosed their abuse
- 3:26Speaker 1: on social media, which itself triggered dozens of additional victims
- 3:29Speaker 1: to come forward. The suit states,