After fighting lawsuits, CPS settles with families who say sons with disabilities were raped in school bathrooms

By DANA KOZLOV

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — Two families accuse the same teen of raping their sons in a school bathroom.

Both sons are Chicago Public Schools students with disabilities, and the families sued the district – only for CPS to fight back. But as CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Monday night, the district has now given up its fight.

The parents of the two teenagers say their sons were raped in a bathroom at William J. Bogan Computer Technical High School, 3939 W. 79th St., in 2016. They say his attacker was another student with disabilities.

“He told me he was hurt. ‘I’m hurt’,” one of the children’s mother told us in a the 2018 story, “and he mentioned blood. I mean, I went crazy.”

In two separate interviews with CBS 2 – one in 2018 and one this year – the parents claimed CPS did nothing to protect their kids. And they sued.

“How the heck did that happen, in school,” one boy’s mother said. “I mean, no one was watching.”

“We’d thought he’d be safe in school, you know,” the boy’s father said.

After one family reported the assault, Carolyn Daley – the lawyer for both the students – told us officials never told the suspected assailant’s teachers or aides that he had been accused of sexual assault.

“Well, what happens when you do that?” Daley told CBS 2’s Irika Sargent in February. “He ended up sexually assaulting another cognitively disabled child in the bathroom at Bogan High School eight months later.”

Daley said it led to the second rape eight months later. But Daley said CPS fought the lawsuit for years – until now.

She confirmed the district is settling both cases for more than $1.5 million – of which $725,000 will go to the first victim’s family, while $850,000 will go to the student who was then assaulted eight months later.

Daley said, “While nothing can change what their children have experienced due to the failures of Chicago Public Schools, this settlement will provide some justice and healing for these victims.”

Daley said CPS agreed to settle right before the case was set to go to trial.

Schools spokeswoman Mary Fergus released the following statement Monday night:

“Chicago Public Schools (CPS) firmly believes that students who are impacted as a result of a legally-recognized failure on the District’s part should be compensated in a reasonable manner that will remedy injuries to the student. There is a tentative settlement agreement in place that resolves the matter in a way that is fair to the student and to the taxpayers who fund the District.

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