Boy, 16, charged with sexual assault at Barrington High School

Barrington police have charged a 16-year-old boy with the criminal sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl on April 26 at Barrington High School, police said Friday.

Police and school officials said the boy was charged with assaulting the girl three times over 10 days between April 16 and April 26 in two different stairwells at the school, with the third encounter leading to the Class 1 felony charge.

The boy is expected to be tried as a juvenile in the Lake County juvenile court system. He was transferred to the Hulse Juvenile Detention Center in Vernon Hills on Tuesday. Barrington Unit District 220 spokesman Jeff Arnett said that the boy has since been released to the custody of his parents.

Both the defendant and victim are students at Barrington High School at 616 W. Main St. in Barrington.

Police said he victim first reported the assaults to a friend on April 26. The friend then brought her to school staff, who called police.

The boy accused of the crime was immediately taken into custody and suspended from school.

School staff assisted police in the investigation. Police officials said the defendant has provided both verbal and written statements to police.

The victim is currently receiving counseling as a result of the assaults.

In a letter to parents Friday, District 220 Superintendent Tom Leonard said the victim received prompt care, attention and support from school officials after they learned about the incidents.

Leonard also sought to establish the rarity of such events on school property.

“The high school has an extensive video surveillance system and campus attendants who regularly monitor student behavior throughout the 72-acre, 570,000-square-foot complex,” Leonard wrote. “Unfortunately, cameras and attendants cannot be focused everywhere at once. The brief encounters did not disrupt or attract attention and allegedly occurred in two secluded stairwells at the high school, just beyond the view of video cameras.”

But security footage was able to establish that the defendant and victim were in certain areas together during the times in question, Leonard said.

“Within our means, safeguarding all members of our school community is a daily priority on every Barrington 220 campus,” Leonard wrote.