Second student accuses former Lake Zurich teacher

A second victim has been added to the child molestation case against a former Lake Zurich High School teacher now accused of sexually abusing two students, Lake County prosecutors said Wednesday.

Ronald Culver, 51, of the 900 block of Blackburn Drive in Inverness, faces 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse as a result of the minor's allegations, authorities said.

Culver, who resigned from the school on Oct. 29, had taught English and drama at the school since 2002. He was named “Educator of the Year” in 2007 by the local chamber of commerce.

He originally was charged Nov. 1 with molesting one student, identified in court documents only as “J. Doe,” after school officials received information about the incident.

But Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Fred Day, who presented the case to a grand jury Wednesday, said a second student came forward after reading reports of Culver's arrest.

The second student also goes unnamed in court documents, and officials are declining to release either students' age or gender. Day said all of the reported contact between Culver and the students is believed to have occurred between late August and October of this year.

Culver is free on $10,000 bond, but Day said the indictment approved by the grand jury Wednesday increases it to $250,000. A new arrest warrant was issued for Culver, but the warrant will be stayed until his Dec. 1 arraignment.

Culver faces a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted of any of the Class 2 felony counts against him, but would also be eligible for probation.