Former Larkin teacher guilty of sex with student

A former Larkin High School teacher pleaded guilty Friday to sexually abusing a 16-year-old student - his second conviction on similar charges.

Ronald D. Suitts, 58, of the 800 block of Shuler Street, Elgin, admitted having sex with the girl in a parked van and other places over the course of a year beginning in fall 2002, when he was her German teacher.

In exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, Suitts was sentenced to four years of sex offender probation and three months of electronic home monitoring. Kane County Judge Thomas E. Mueller also ordered him to have no unsupervised contact with children other than his own.

"We believe this is the best disposition for all parties involved," defense attorney Todd Cohen said. "Mr. Suitts led a law-abiding life until the recent past."

Suitts' teaching career in Elgin Area U-46, where he had worked since 1989, ended after he was first accused of molestation involving a different student in 2005.

In that case, Suitts admitted inappropriately pressing his chest against the teenage girl's body, and his teaching license was revoked upon pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery. He also was sentenced to two months of home confinement, two years of sex offender probation and a treatment program, which he since has completed.

Suitts, who faced up to seven years in prison for the most recent charge, was suspended from U-46 in May 2005 and finally resigned in January 2007 before his second victim came forward.

In addition to teaching German, Suitts had coached the school chess team and oversaw a cultural exchange program, officials have said.