A female high school student has filed suit against Elmwood Park school district in River Grove, as well as other schools, accusing the school districts of allowing a male teacher, who was allegedly known to be a sexual predator, to groom her and other girls for later sexual abuse.
The victim, identified only as Jane Doe, was a student at Elmwood Park High School, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
A teacher, identified as Dallas Till allegedly "took an interest in Doe during Doe's freshman year and initiated inappropriate, flirtatious conversations with Doe," the lawsuit states. "Till would invite DOE into his office after school to have one-on-one conversations. Till at one point made comments that once Doe was 18, their relationship would progress."
School administrators knew about Till's relationship with the student but made no effort to stop it, the lawsuit contends.
"Despite having reasonable cause to believe that one of its teachers, Till, was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student, Doe, District 401 through its agents and/or employees took no action to investigate, detect and/or prevent Till from forming other inappropriate relationships with his students," the suit states. "Till successfully groomed Doe for the years of sexual abuse he inflicted on her, leading to significant emotional and personal issues that plague her to his day."
The lawsuit seeks money damages, plus attorney fees.
Doe is represented by attorneys Michael J. Sorich and R. Emmett Harrington, of Cavanagh Law Group, of Chicago.