DuPage guitar teacher gets 4.5 years for molesting student
After he was accused of molesting a 14-year-old student, guitar teacher John Hammond told police the two were “in love” and that she was the aggressor, prosecutors said.
On Wednesday, the 55-year-old Glendale Heights man was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for molesting the teen whose band he also managed.
Hammond was arrested in January after he was accused of carrying on an inappropriate relationship with the girl, who took guitar lessons in his home on Pleasant Drive.
Prosecutors said he had known the victim for about a year and, on several occasions, molested her and had sexual conversations with her on Facebook.
Hammond claimed in a later police interview that he and the victim were “in love,” Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Kirsten King said.
“He characterized the victim as the aggressor,” she said in court.
Hammond pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse and was sentenced by Judge George Bakalis.
By law, he must complete at least half his sentence, with credit for about six months served in jail since his arrest. He also must register as a sex offender for life.
Speaking on his own behalf, Hammond told the judge he wasn't the nefarious predator that authorities made him out to be but admitted to the inappropriate contact.
“I take responsibility for it,” he said.
Bakalis responded that it was only relevant that Hammond had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.
Hammond is the father of former Glendale Heights resident Jeremy Hammond, a reputed computer hacker facing federal charges of cyber crimes against major corporations and other government agencies.