High School Hall Monitor Accused Of Having Sex With Student
ELGIN, Ill. (STMW) -- Elgin School District U46 confirmed Wednesday that a 23-year-old Elgin man charged this week with sexual abuse was a hall monitor at Larkin High School and his alleged victim, a student at the Elgin school.
Andrew M. Wojtas, 23, of the 1100 block of Birchdale Drive, has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony. He is accused of having sex with a girl between the ages of 13 and 18 on May 12.
Wojtas was hired as a hall monitor at Larkin High School on April 11, according to U46 safety officer John Heiderscheidt.
Heiderscheidt said U46 became aware of the relationship between the employee and student on Monday, when a student alerted a faculty member, who then notified school administrators. He declined to comment whether that student was the one Wojtas is accused of abusing.
"From that point, we moved quickly to bring the employee in and put him on administrative leave and advise him he was not to be on the property until the investigation concludes," he said.
The district then contacted the girl's family and the Elgin Police Department, he added.
As a hall monitor, Wojtas served as a part-time employee of U46, working several hours a day with the dean's office to help conduct student movement through Larkin's hallways, Heiderscheidt said.
"At this point, we do not believe anything happened during school or on Larkin High School property," he said.
Both U46 and Elgin police are investigating the incident. Heiderscheidt said Larkin staffers have been briefed with the information U46 had prior to the police investigation.
"These are certainly serious situations, and obviously stuff that should not be happening," he said. "We certainly call on faculty and parents to be observant of anything suspicious at any time. It's always important for us to talk to students about appropriate relationships with adults and who to talk to if something is not right."
Wojtas' bail was set this week at $75,000, and he has a May 24 court date.
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