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Records: St. Charles North aid confessed to sex, was investigated before hire

A former St. Charles School District 303 employee accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student this year confessed to police after his arrest and also was investigated in early 2014, but the allegations he had a relationship with a different student were unsubstantiated, according to court records.

"There was no smoking gun," St. Charles Superintendent Don Schlomann said. "Hindsight being 20/20, we all should have said, 'Oh my God, look at this.' No one sitting in that room felt like it would lead to this. Unfortunately, it did."

Christopher A. Lee, 29, of the 300 block of North 15th Street, St. Charles, was charged in May with two counts each of criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse, both felonies.

Lee, who was terminated from his position as a St. Charles North High School dean's assistant after his arrest, is accused of using his position of trust and authority to have a sexual relationship with a female student from February through May.

According to a police affidavit used to secure a search warrant for a forensic search of Lee's phone, he made several statements to police after he waived his right to remain silent.

Lee, according to the affidavit, told police that he had sex with the girl at his apartment after picking her up from Charlestowne Mall, kissed her at the school while out of view of security cameras, and sent her explicit photos using Snapchat.

The girl used an alias of "Steph" for Lee on her cellphone and told police she also sent him explicit photos via Snapchat and had sex with Lee at his apartment sometime during spring break, according to the affidavit.

Lee, according to the affidavit, was investigated in January 2014 after a post on Twitter indicated a girls' basketball coach had a "sexual encounter" with one of his players in 2013 while he was the sophomore coach.

"This incident was investigated by myself, and forwarded to the Kane County Child Advocacy Center as well as DCFS and was ultimately determined to be unfounded," wrote St. Charles Police detective Eric Majewski, who also serves as St. Charles North's school resource officer.

Schlomann said Lee was put on paid leave during the investigation from Jan. 14, 2014, through Feb. 4, 2014.

Lee was later hired for the 2014-2015 school year as a dean's assistant; Schlomann said Lee was highly qualified and had special training to work with autistic special needs students.

Schlomann said the hiring panel that interviewed Lee was aware of the past investigation but balanced that with the fact that three entities concluded the allegations were unfounded.

"At that time, there was no reason to believe the accusation had any validity," Schlomann said. "He had been working with our students, he knew our students and had a special education background. There's not any big 'ah-ha' moment where we say 'that's what we missed.'"

Still, Schlomann said the district is taking another look at its procedures and practices and he will discuss them with school board members behind closed doors at their July 13 meeting.

Lee's defense attorney, Michael Bercos, declined to comment on the case.

If convicted, Lee faces at least eight years in prison and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He is next due in court July 8.

Court records show Lee had his bail reduced from $150,000 to $50,000 - he must post $5,000 to be released while the case is pending - and was still being held at the Kane County jail.

If he posts bail, he will live with his parents in Chicago and is to have no contact with his accuser nor any other minors, records show.

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