Chicago Public Schools investigation finds ‘systemic problem’ at local high school

A nearly 300-page report—which took nearly three years to complete—substantiated sexual misconduct allegations against Dennis Kass, Charles Smith, Danny Pena and Hans Krueger—all former teachers at Little Village Lawndale High School.

Those findings came on top of four other staff members from the high school whom the inspector general had previously found engaged in misconduct. The OIG’s report found staff at the high school “routinely crossed boundaries with students and created an environment where grooming behaviors might have seemed like normal interactions.”

“It was very easy to target people at that school,” said one student who asked to be called “Alice.”

This past spring, several former students told NBC 5 Investigates they felt they had been groomed into sexual relationships