$3.5M Verdict Against Berwyn School District for Sexual Abuse

South Berwyn School District 100 has found itself on the wrong end of a $3.5 million verdict after a jury found that the district failed to protect students from district-wide band teacher Robert Sperlik, who sexually molested elementary school girls between 1998 and 2005. The jury also handed out $100,000 in punitive damages against one of the district's former principals, Karen Grindle, when the jury concluded that Grindle knew about the sexual abuse and failed to act during her tenure at Pershing Elementary School.

Sperlik pleaded guilty in 2006 to abusing over 20 girls as young as 9 years old. Framing the abuse as a game and plying the girls with candy, Sperlik tied them up with jump rope and duct tape and recreated bondage scenes as he molested them. Sperlik is currently serving a 20 year sentence at Illinois River Correctional Center.

The jury was told that Grindle received a note from three of Sperlik's students in 2001, complaining of inappropriate touching during lessons, as well as complaints from two other students in 2002. In all incidents, Grindle failed to take action against the teacher. During the trial, Grindle's defense attorney had questioned the validity of one victim's testimony, implying that she had been affected psychologically by other traumatic events in her life including being molested by another man, not being raised by her parents, and finding a dead man on a couch during a visit to her father's apartment.

The monetary award will likely be paid by the district's insurance company.