The Chicago school board has approved a $17.5 million settlement over the sexual abuse of a student by a former high school dean.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the settlement is believed to be the largest school-related sexual abuse settlement in state history, according to the former student’s legal team.
The former dean at Little Village Lawndale High School, Brian Crowder, was sentenced in August to 22 years in prison after being found guilty of coercing a female student into a sexual relationship in 2013 when she was 15 years old.
The yearslong sexual abuse, which occurred from 2013 to 2016, resulted in two pregnancies that Crowder pressured her to abort, according to the suit.
The former student testified in court earlier this year that communication between them began when Crowder approached her in the lunchroom and asked for her social media username.
The sexual abuse was made public in 2024, after the former student sued the district for not protecting her during her years at the school.
The district denied wrongdoing in the matter. In a prepared statement, it said it "chose to resolve this case through a settlement in order to avoid the uncertainty, cost, and emotional toll of a trial for all involved.”
