Statements obtained from two Prospect High School students before they were allowed to call their parents or speak with lawyers are expected to be key to the defense Tuesday as the teens face charges alleging they sexually assaulted a fellow member of the freshman football team.
In their statements, the students implicated themselves in the alleged attack, authorities have said. Although Cook County Juvenile Court Judge Richard Walsh ruled in January that prosecutors could use the statements at trial, lawyers for the accused teens hope that questions about how the statements were obtained will be enough to avoid a conviction.
“The judge ruled that the statements are admissible, but the question remains as to how much weight they will hold,” said Steven Glink, the lawyer for one of the accused teens.
Walsh denied a motion to suppress the statements, ruling the teens were not formally in custody when they agreed to talk in the high school dean’s office. The statements, which the students also did not sign, were taken after the alleged victim told school officials he had been sexually assaulted with a foreign object in the locker room after freshman football practice on Oct. 15, 1997.
Though the alleged victim declined to appear at the pretrial hearings, Glink said the teen could take the stand in Juvenile Court this week.
A third teen who has been charged is expected to plead guilty and could testify against his teammates.
As the trial unfolds, a state legislator from Chicago is expressing concerns that state law has failed to protect the rights of juveniles.
Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) has introduced a bill that would make a confession statement made by a child under 10 inadmissible in a Juvenile Court proceeding. The bill also would rewrite state law to make it very difficult for prosecutors to use statements by children ages 10 to 14 in Juvenile Court.
McKeon said he introduced the bill because he was troubled by the way Chicago police handled the 7- and 8-year-old boys initially charged in the killing of 11-year-old Ryan Harris last year on the South Side. Charges were later dropped against the boys.
The three Prospect High School students charged with criminal sexual assault were 14 years old when they made their statements to the high school’s dean and a police officer.
While the law requires police make a “reasonable attempt” to notify parents when a minor is in custody, the parents of the Prospect High students were not contacted because the interrogation took place in the dean’s office. School officials have said the youths were not in custody.
Venetia Miles, a spokeswoman for Township High School District 214, said officials routinely interview students concerning discipline without notifying parents.
“There is no formal procedure stating whether a parent is called in or not,” she said.
School officials do seek permission from parents before allowing a student to take medication, leave the high school campus for lunch or attend a field trip. The mother of one of the accused teens said she had assumed school officials also contacted parents regarding criminal investigations.
“I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I was working around the house the morning my son was interviewed by a police officer,” she said. “But they never allowed my son to call me until the interview was over. If it would have just been the dean questioning him, I can understand. But there was a police officer too.”
