Former Rolling Meadows teacher pleads not guilty to assault charges
EXETER, N.H. — A retired Rolling Meadows High School teacher who was the 1991-92 Illinois Teacher of the Year has pleaded not guilty to charges he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old 43 years ago at a New Hampshire prep school.
Arthur Peekel, 74, of Palatine was scheduled to be arraigned July 5 on two misdemeanor counts of sexual assault. His lawyer submitted the not guilty plea and arraignment waiver this week on Peekel's behalf.
Peekel is accused of assaulting then-14-year-old Lawrence Jenkens when the teen visited the Exeter school in 1973 as a prospective student and Peekel was an admissions officer.
The Associated Press and Daily Herald usually do not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Jenkens has made his accusations public and been interviewed by the Daily Herald. Jenkens is now an art professor at University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
After Jenkens' account first appeared in The Boston Globe on May 6, the Exeter Police Department said it was reopening its investigation. Peekel was charged on May 13 and turned himself in to the Exeter police. He was released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.
Jenkens said he told his mother about the assault in 1973, and she reported it to Exeter. Exeter told the Jenkenses that Peekel denied the accusation and passed a lie-detector test.
Peekel took a leave of absence from Exeter shortly afterward and resigned the following year.
He returned to Illinois, where he grew up, and had a full teaching career, retiring from Rolling Meadows High School in 2004. He was named Illinois Teacher of the Year in 1992.
District 214 officials said they were unaware of the Exeter allegations when they hired him in 1986, and that no allegations were made against him in District 214.
Peekel grew up in Palatine and graduated from Palatine High School in 1959 after an exemplary high school career. He attended Knox College and taught English as a Second Language in Greece for four summers.
At Rolling Meadows High School, Peekel 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 a student foreign travel program. He also hosted a foreign exchange teacher from China who lived with him for 10 months and would sit in on his classes, according to reports 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.
Exeter Police Chief Bill Shupe said because Peekel left New Hampshire in 1974, the statute of limitations on Jenkens' allegations has not expired. Crossing state lines stops the clock, he explained.
• Daily Herald staff writers contributed to this report.