Retired St. Viator coach Majkowski pleads guilty to misdemeanor battery
Editor's note: The headline was corrected from original versions.
Retired St. Viator High School basketball coach and counselor Joe Majkowski pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from allegations he groped a female student in his office.
Majkowski, 67, was sentenced to 24 months of probation as part of the plea deal, under which prosecutors dropped a felony charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse initially filed in the case, said his attorney, Alfred Stavros of the Stavros Law Offices.
Additionally, Majkowski was ordered to undergo sex offender evaluation and follow any recommendations, and have no contact with anyone under age 18, prosecutors said.
The Arlington Heights resident was arrested in December 2019, after authorities say the 16-year-old girl told a therapist in October 2019 that Majkowski inappropriately touched her earlier that year.
The girl and her family agreed with the disposition, according to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Jaclyn Lantz.
Charges first surfaced against Majkowski in July 2019, when four 15-year-old students said the former head boys basketball coach sent them inappropriate text messages. At that time, he was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Those charges have been transferred back to a Rolling Meadows misdemeanor courtroom, where Majkowski will appear next month, Lantz said.
Majkowski coached at St. Viator for 35 years and in 2012 was enshrined in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame.
He stopped coaching in 2011 but remained as the head of the school's counseling department until his retirement at the end of the 2018-2019 school year, according to school officials.