Glenbrook teacher faces new charges in student sexual assault case
A former Glenbrook High School District 225 teacher is facing nine new felony charges stemming from an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct with a student, police announced Thursday.
Paul R. Castelli, 45, of the 1300 block of Carol Lane in Des Plaines, was arrested Wednesday on seven counts of criminal sexual assault, and single counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and grooming, Arlington Heights police said.
Castelli appeared Thursday in Cook County court, where a judge ordered him held on $210,000 cash bond.
The new charges come less than five months after Arlington Heights police first arrested Castelli on Jan. 2, when officers patrolling the area of Algonquin and Arlington Heights roads found a suspicious vehicle behind a vacant office building. Officers approached the vehicle and observed a man in the driver's seat and a girl in the back seat who appeared to be crying and undressed, police said in January.
Police later learned Castelli was at the time a teacher/case manager at District 225's Glenbrook Off Campus Center, a small therapeutic day school attended by about 50 students with special needs.
Castelli was charged then with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
According to Arlington Heights police, further investigation revealed that Castelli, while serving as the girl's individualized education program case manager, began communicating with her through a mobile app. During these interactions, Castelli routinely complimented her appearance, police said.
Around September 2021, Castelli began meeting with the girl outside of school and making physical advances toward her until their relationship became intimate, according to police. Over the course of several months, Castelli sexually assaulted the girl, police said.
District 225 officials placed Castelli on administrative leave after his initial arrest.
"Glenbrook High School District 225 continues to be disturbed by the Jan. 2 arrest involving the inappropriate behavior of a former Glenbrook District 225 teacher," the district said in a statement Thursday. "As a reminder, the incident did not occur on campus and the arrest was made by Arlington Heights Police Department. We cannot provide additional information at this time, as it is an active police investigation. In hiring employees, the district conducts a thorough review process that includes state and federal background and fingerprint checks."
Castelli is scheduled to return to court June 17.