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Teachers face sex charges
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 By
Susan Kuczka
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 6, 2006
One day after authorities charged a former Grayslake Community High
School teacher with molesting a student at the school, a teacher
at Warren Township High School in Gurnee faced charges Wednesday,
accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old student.
In both cases authorities tracked the alleged criminal activities
of the teachers through e-mail and cell phone conversations with
the students, said Pat Fix, chief of the cybercrimes unit of the
Lake County state's attorney's office.
"Text messaging has in fact revolutionized the way teenagers
communicate, and we've been fortunate we've been able to retrieve
some of those conversations, which has broken cases for us,"
Fix said.
During a hearing Wednesday in Circuit Court in Waukegan, Associate
Judge Valerie Ceckowski set bail at $100,000 for James R. Lobitz,
36, an English teacher and athletic coach at Warren who allegedly
abused a member of the girls track team.
On Tuesday, bail was set at $50,000 for Jason Glick, 36, an English
teacher who resigned from Grayslake last month after authorities
launched an investigation of e-mail exchanges he had with a 17-year-old
student using a high school computer.
In both cases the students initially denied involvement with the
teachers but eventually provided statements to authorities when
confronted with transcripts of sexually explicit e-mails and text-message
conversations they had with the men, Fix said.
In prepared statements, school officials at both Warren and Grayslake
said they are cooperating fully with police while continuing to
provide a safe environment for students and staff. Both teachers
resigned after authorities opened investigations into their conduct.
Lobitz, a 12-year employee at Warren whose wife also works at the
school, allegedly had sex with the student at various locations,
including inside the high school, the girl's house and his house
in the 2700 block of Hancock Court in Lindenhurst, officials said.
On one occasion Lobitz's wife arrived home while the two were allegedly
engaged in sexual activity in the residence, authorities said.
"When the wife came in, the student hid and ran out of the
house," Fix said.
School officials contacted Gurnee police about Lobitz in January
after a janitor reported that he had seen the teacher and student
engaged in sexual behavior in a darkened classroom during the district's
winter break.
After authorities questioned the student, now 17, she deleted instant-message
computer conversations she had been having with the teacher in an
apparent attempt to hide the two-month relationship.
But when later confronted with transcripts of conversations with
numerous references to sex acts between the two, which authorities
had retrieved from the student's computer, the girl acknowledged
the relationship, Fix said.
In one recovered text message, Lobitz seems to acknowledge that
he knows the relationship with the teenager violates the law, Fix
said.
"My problem is, I could be honest and say there is another
woman, but assuming that is you, I'm going to jail and getting fired,"
Fix quoted from the transcripts.
Lobitz was arrested at his home Tuesday by police, who confiscated
his laptop computer, cell phone, digital camera and other items.
He faces six counts of criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony,
and seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2
felony. The Class 1 charges carry a minimum 4-year prison term and
15-year maximum, Fix said.
In the case involving Glick, authorities charged the Kenosha resident
Tuesday with six counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after
District 127 officials expressed concern to police about activities
between Glick and a 17-year-old member of Grayslake's drama club.
After a club field trip to Chicago in December, witnesses observed
Glick kissing the girl in his car in the school parking lot in January,
and he allegedly fondled her on at least two other outings in Grayslake
and Libertyville, authorities said.
While 17 is the age of consent in Illinois, criminal charges could
be filed because Glick was in a position of trust and authority
over the student, Fix said.
Glick and the girl each denied engaging in sexual activity when
initially questioned by police, Fix said. But after cell phone text
messages and e-mails describing the relationship were retrieved
from a high school computer, the teenager confirmed the sexual activity,
Fix said.
Glick, the married father of a toddler, was placed on a 24-hour
curfew and ordered not to have contact with the student or anyone
under 17 as a condition of his bail.
Attorneys for each of the defendants declined to comment.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northshore/chi-0604060141apr06,1,3397558.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorthshore-hed
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