Family sues Chicago Public Schools after gym teacher charged with sexually abusing 3 boys
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of three Chicago Public Schools students has filed a federal lawsuit against the district, claiming their children were sexually abused by their gym teacher for years.
Attorney Patrycja Karlin said the abuse of her clients started in 2018 inside former Federico Garcia Lorca Elementary School gym teacher Andrew Castro's home, when the victims were between the ages of 10 and 12, and continued until earlier this year.
According to the lawsuit, two of the victims are brothers, and the third is their cousin, and they all live in the same home.
"For over five years, our clients – students at Chicago Public Schools - endured grooming and sexual abuse by a teacher, a person entrusted with their education and safety," Karlin said.
Starting during the 2017-18 school year, Castro asked to watch the boys play in soccer matches outside of school grounds in order to gain the trust of their parents. He later started taking them out for lunch afterward, and insisted on having the two brothers call him "godfather," and their cousin call him "dad" since he didn't have a father.
He later started talking directly to the boys using personal electronic devices to avoid CPS from monitoring his contact with the boys, and started taking them out for bowling, movies, and shopping at the mall.
The lawsuit claims Castro would drive the boys around in his Lexus SUV and give them small gifts, without their parents' consent. Later in 2018, he started inviting the boys to his home, and continued grooming them.
He also hired the brothers' parents to renovate his home for $20,000, and later paid them for other renovation projects at property he owned, in order to make their parents financially dependent on him.
The lawsuit claims Castro began sexually abusing the boys in late 2018 while they were at his home, but the boys didn't tell their parents because they were embarrassed and didn't want to get Castro in trouble. Castro later started hosting the boys at sleepovers, sometimes sleeping in the same bed as the boys.
Sometime between 2018 and 2019, Castro began playing games with the boys, telling them the rules required the boy who scored the lowest number to expose himself. Sometimes after the games, he would sexually abuse each of the boys, telling them it was a joke.
According to the lawsuit, Castro sexually assaulted one of the boys when he was 12 years old, and then gave him $20; and raped another boy multiple times in 2021 – even after Castro left the school following an allegation of inappropriate behavior with another student. Castro allegedly told the boys his accuser was angry with him because he wouldn't change the student's grade, and he could not go back to the school until his accuser graduated.
The lawsuit claims the boys' parents did not stop the boys from having contact with Castro, because no one from the school warned them that he had been suspended because of inappropriate sexual behavior, and might be a sexual predator.
In May of 2023, one of the boy's parents discovered he was cutting himself, and the boy told his sister Castro had raped him multiple times. When the parents reported Castro to police, they learned he had four prior complaints of sexual abuse.
The lawsuit claims other staffers at the school were aware that Castro was having an inappropriate relationship with the boys, but didn't report him.
"We shouldn't be counting the ways that a school system ignored the signs and abuse, and enabled a predator to groom 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old boys," said Disparti Law Group attorney Bob Fioretti, a former Chicago alderman now running for Cook County State's Attorney.
In June, Castro, 36, was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a child in Cook County. He was later indicted in multiple cases, and he is being held in Cook County Jail to await trial.
At the time he was charged, CPS officials confirmed he had been removed from Lorca Elementary School in May 2021, and the district's inspector general had launched an investigation into allegations against him.
CPS officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, but confirmed Castro remains suspended pending the results of the inspector general's investigation.
"Chicago Public Schools (CPS), prioritizes the safety and well-being of our students. We take seriously our responsibility to ensure all employees act in the best interest of our students. The District does not comment on pending investigations or litigation. Our CPS team follows District policies and procedures as we respond to issues."