South Elgin High grad charged with painting lewd graffiti on alma mater

A member of South Elgin High School's first graduating class returned to the campus Monday night - to spray paint lewd graffiti on the school grounds during homecoming week, police said.

William A. Oliver, 18, of the 1100 block of Stonegate Court in Bartlett, was arrested Thursday on charges of criminal defacement of school property and criminal damage to state-supported property, both Class 3 felonies that carry up to five years in prison, fines of up to $25,000 or 2½ years probation.

Police, who say independent witnesses led to Oliver's arrest, don't have an exact dollar amount of the damage done, but say it is more than $300, the threshold for a felony charge.

Oliver painted the red, white and blue images on the school's building and its main sidewalk, police said.

He graduated from the high school in May, police said.

"No one should do that to their alma mater," South Elgin Police Sgt. Mike Doty said. "There's no need for this - it's senseless vandalism, that's what it is."

Tony Sanders, a spokesman for Elgin Area School District U-46, says the images were part of a larger prank in which a group of kids also toilet-papered the school grounds.

He said district employees worked overtime using a high-powered sprayer to erase the graffiti by the next day.

Kane County Judge John A. Noverini on Friday morning set Oliver's bail at $20,000, which means he needs $2,000 to get out of jail. He was unable to post bond and was taken to the Kane County lockup. His next court date is Oct. 6 at the Kane County Judicial Center.