Hate crime charges dropped against St. Charles East student

Authorities dropped felony hate crime charges against a St. Charles East High School student Tuesday after the 14-year-old boy pleaded guilty to lesser charges for scrawling a racial epithet on his black ex-girlfriend's locker.

The boy, who is not being named because he is a juvenile, was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision after pleading guilty to criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.

The plea agreement was the result of discussions involving prosecutors and school officials as well as the boy, the victim and both of their families, according to the Kane County state's attorney's office.

As part of the boy's court supervision, he must complete 40 hours of community service, undergo random drug and alcohol testing, attend school, adhere to a curfew set by his parents and avoid contact with the victim.

The freshman student, who is white, was initially charged with two felony hate crimes after his former girlfriend, also a 14-year-old freshman, opened her locker March 17 and found an epithet written inside. The boy also used a school computer to create a stick figure of a black man being hanged - an image he shared with classmates, prosecutors said.

At the time, his attorney, Glenn Sowa, described the incident as a "boyfriend-girlfriend spat gone awry."

"It's unfortunate the racial element came to the forefront," Sowa said then.

The boy, described as an above-average student and member of the lacrosse team and Key Club, since has undergone psychological evaluations and was ordered to attend at least six counseling sessions as part of his sentence. Each of the hate crimes with which the boy was originally charged were punishable by up to five years in prison.

The incident prompted St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 to begin designing an educational program to emphasize racial tolerance and understanding.