Ex-Rolling Meadows teacher charged with 1973 sexual assault
A former Rolling Meadows High School teacher and 1991-92 Illinois Teacher of the Year faces charges that he sexually assaulted a prospective student 43 years ago at a prep school in New Hampshire.
Arthur Peekel, now 74 and living in Palatine, turned himself in on Friday to the Exeter, New Hampshire, police, Exeter Police Chief William Shupe said.
Peekel did not return calls from the Daily Herald on Wednesday and he could not be reached on Friday.
A news release from Shure said Peekel faces two misdemeanor charges of sexual assault. He was released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond and agreed to surrender his passport, sign a waiver of extradition and have no contact with minors.
His arraignment is scheduled for July 5 in New Hampshire.
"We allege that the suspect violated the trust placed in him by a prospective student by committing multiple acts of sexual assault," Shupe said.
Peekel is charged with sexually assaulting a prospective student at Phillips Exeter Academy between November and December 1973, while Peekel was working in the school's admissions office.
Peekel was hired by District 214 in 1986 and taught social studies at Rolling Meadows High School until he retired in 2004. He was named the 1991-92 Illinois Teacher of the Year by the State Board of Education.
Allegations against Peekel were first made public in a May 6 article on child sexual abuse in private schools in the Northeast, done by the Spotlight investigative team from The Boston Globe.
In the story, University of North Carolina-Greensboro art professor Lawrence Jenkens said he was a 14-year-old prospective Exeter student when Peekel fondled him.
Reached by the Daily Herald, Jenkens said he spent two nights at Phillips Exeter Academy in 1973 to see what it was like. The first night he slept in the dorms, but the second night, he claims, Peekel told him there was no space in the dorms and offered him a cot at his apartment.
Jenkens said he, Peekel and other students watched and discussed a movie at Peekel's home that night. When it was time for bed, Jenkens got into a cot next to Peekel's bed.
There, in the darkness, he said, Peekel sexually assaulted him.
Jenkens said he left the next morning and called his mother from a pay phone, telling her what happened. That led to a meeting with the school president.
School officials later told the family that Peekel denied the accusations and passed a lie-detector test the school administered, Jenkens said.
Peekel, who spoke to The Boston Globe for their May 6 story, denied the accusations. He acknowledged to the Globe that school officials confronted him with Jenkens' accusations several days later, when he denied anything had happened.
The police were never called, Jenkens said.
The Globe reports that Peekel took a leave of absence from Exeter in December 1973 and resigned the following year, according to Exeter officials. Peekel told the Globe he left to take care of his sick mother in Illinois.
Peekel grew up in Palatine and graduated from Palatine High School in 1959. He attended Knox College and taught English as a Second Language in Greece for four summers.
Asked about Peekel on Wednesday, District 214 officials said they have a letter of reference from an immediate previous employer, and that he passed a state police criminal history background check.
At Rolling Meadows High School, Peekel was active and well-liked. He was the school's Talented and Gifted program coordinator, junior class sponsor, a coach on the Scholastic Bowl team, co-chairman of the Multi-Cultural Committee, and an adviser for the International Club, Project Earth, Amnesty International and Peer Tutoring.
In 1989, he was among the teachers who led the People to People High School Student Ambassador Program, a foreign travel program for students. One trip stopped in China, Japan and Hong Kong. Peekel also hosted a foreign exchange teacher from China, who lived with him for 10 months and would sit in on his classes, according to stories in the Daily Herald archives.
In 1995, Palatine High School gave Peekel its Distinguished Graduate Award.
In 1997, he was one of only 20 teachers nationwide selected by the Teacher Excellence Awards for a 10-day exchange in Ukraine.
A 2000 Daily Herald story mentioned a former student who reached out to Peekel to thank him for being a role model, saying he inspired her to become a teacher.
Since retiring, Peekel has traveled the world, including a church mission trip to a Russian orphanage in the summer of 2013, according to his blog.
Exeter Police Chief Shupe said because Peekel left New Hampshire in 1974, the statute of limitations on the allegations has not expired. Crossing state lines suspends the statute.
"We salute the bravery of the victim in coming forward to report this incident to us, allowing us to bring this case forward."