The former dean of students at a Chicago-area high school has been accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage student over the course of several years. He also allegedly posed as her stepfather at least twice to have abortions performed on her.
Brian Crowder, 40, was ordered to be held on $75,000 bond after his arrest Tuesday on a charge of criminal sexual assault, WTTW-TV in Chicago reported.
Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Deboni told the outlet that Crowder worked at the Greater Lawndale High School for Social Justice in Little Village in 2013 when he started messaging a 15-year-old female student via Snapchat.
Crowder sent videos of himself to the girl, and in one of them he told her, “I want you.” That summer, he began bringing the 15-year-old girl to his home, where he allegedly plied the girl with alcohol and sexually assaulted her, according to the report.
Deboni told WTTW that Crowder and the girl had sexual intercourse five to six times each month for the next two years, until the summer of 2015.
In 2014, the girl became pregnant. When she told Crowder, he wanted her to get an abortion, court documents showed, according to WGN-TV Chicago.
That October, Crowder took the girl to an abortionist posing as her stepfather and fraudulently signed the consent form. A year later, the abuse had continued, and again Crowder brought the now 16-year-old to the abortionist, again posing as her stepfather.
Multiple outlets have reported that the girl told a teacher about the ongoing abuse, and the teacher urged her to report Crowder to the police; however, she refused.
According to WGN-TV, she said she didn’t want her name to be in the media or for people to find out what had happened. She allegedly broke off contact with Crowder in 2015, ending the abuse.
Crowder reached out to the young woman in 2019, WTTW-TV reported, and when she failed to respond, he tracked down her workplace and called her there.
She eventually told a friend about the years of abuse. In September of 2021, she contacted the police and filed a report. Shortly thereafter, Crowder texted her, “Goodbye forever.”
By March, Crowder was arrested, but was not charged at that time. He went free. But the investigation wasn’t over.
Chicago Police were able to obtain the medical records, according to Deboni, some of which listed Crowder as the emergency point of contact.
Police were also able to recover the Snapchat messages between Crowder and the victim which, Deboni told WTTW, showed the two had a “relationship sexual in nature.”
On Tuesday, Crowder was once again arrested and charged. A hearing is scheduled for September 20.
According to a letter to parents from Principal Omar Chilous published by CWBChicago, the school became aware of the allegations against Crowder in September 2021.
He wrote, “Upon learning of the allegation, the district immediately launched an investigation and removed the employee from his position. Recently, we learned that this employee, Brian Crowder, has been arrested and faces criminal sexual assault charges. Brian Crowder has not worked at Social Justice since September of 2021 and was terminated by the district in November of 2021.”
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