Teacher who didn't report sex assault allegation gets 30 days in jail
Calling her behavior "outrageous and callous," a Lake County judge sentenced a former Gavin South Middle School teacher to 30 days in jail for failing to report the suspected sexual assault of a student, as required by law.
April Courtney, 35, of Wauconda pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of failure to report suspected child abuse in front of Lake County Judge Helen Rozenberg.
Rozenberg ordered Courtney to turn herself into Lake County jail July 31. In a court hearing on that date, the judge will discuss whether she will revoke Courtney's teaching license and whether she will order Courtney to pay donations to a sex abuse organization.
"The reason these laws were instituted is because children of this age need protectors," Rozenberg said. "If we can't count on the people in the school ... they are helpless in a terrifying way in today's society."
Courtney did not speak during or after the hearing.
Courtney, Michael Lanners, 38, of Lake Villa, and John Keehan, 40, of Elgin all were charged with failure to report suspected child abuse after authorities learned the teachers knew about the sexual assault of a student and didn't report it. Former teacher Michael Vucic is accused of the assault.
All three teachers previously pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected child abuse. If found guilty, each could be sentenced to up to one year in prison.
Vucic, 41, of the 100 block of East Laurel Avenue in Lake Forest, remains held in Lake County jail without bail after being charged with more than 50 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated child pornography, criminal sexual assault of a victim under the age of 17 and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He is accused of having sexual relations with two students.
If found guilty at his scheduled Aug. 31 trial on the most serious charges, Vucic could be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison.
The allegations surfaced when one victim told family members in August 2014 she had sexual contact with Vucic several times at the Ingleside school, authorities said. A second victim was discovered during the investigation, authorities said.
During the investigation, but before a warrant was issued for Vucic's arrest, the 18-year instructor at Gavin South fled to Bosnia-Herzegovina in Europe, authorities said. He remained hidden for about three weeks before being captured in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
Gavin Elementary District 37 documents show Courtney and Keehan were placed on administrative leave Sept. 24 and fired Oct. 14 for not reporting the suspected abuse to authorities and administrators, as required by law.
Lanners has not been a teacher at Gavin since 2002, but officials in Mundelein Elementary District 75 where he worked said he was placed on administrative leave and later fired because of the Vucic situation.
All three are out of jail after paying the required 10 percent of their $5,000 bail.
Courtney's plea deal came on a day when Lanners was due to go on trial. That trial was postponed because witnesses were unavailable to make the court date.
Due to a technicality, prosecutors said they have to drop the charges against Lanners, then refile them Aug. 20, when he is due back in court.
Keehan is due back in court July 27 for a status hearing regarding a possible plea deal.
Defense attorney Barry Lewis said in court Tuesday that Courtney believed Vucic was a "big talker" who often made outrageous claims or statements while working at the school.
Lewis also said Courtney worked with police after a warrant was issued for Vucic's arrest. He added she gave police the tapes and cassettes that Vucic asked her to destroy should he ever be killed or had to suddenly leave the country.
"People make mistakes and go on," Lewis said.