Lombard-area mom cleared of buying booze for teen party

Prosecutors dropped criminal charges Tuesday against a DuPage County mother arrested after photos of her teenage son's drinking party surfaced on the Internet.

Jessica G. Holz, 35, was accused of hosting a Jan. 5 party in the detached garage of her home near Lombard, where several Glenbard South High School students had gathered.

The party came to light after the school's liaison officer - also a DuPage County sheriff's deputy - discovered pictures from the bash on the popular social networking Web site Facebook.

Nineteen students were identified in the photos, 11 of whom were athletes. Many of them were disciplined at school, and four were charged with possession of alcohol by a minor.

Holz faced charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The mother of two said she was unaware someone sneaked alcohol into her garage, which also had a back entrance. Holz said she checked in on the group earlier in the evening and thought everything was fine. She came to court Tuesday to fight the allegation at trial but, instead, prosecutors said they were forced to drop charges because an important witness failed to appear in court. They cited a lack of evidence without his testimony.

"I'm just happy it's over," Holz said outside of court. "I obviously don't condone teenage drinking. I don't keep any liquor in the house. He's had friends over in the past, and I've never had problems. He's a good student and he feels terrible.

"Obviously, a lot of lessons were learned."

Her attorney, Nicholas Kirkeles, said he was happy with the outcome but confident the facts would have vindicated Holz at trial. He said prosecutors had several problems with their case, including proving beyond a reasonable doubt, through photos, that alcohol was served.

"I would have loved to have tried this matter on the facts and exonerated her completely because she's a good mother who did nothing wrong," Kirkeles said.