A former Chicago Public Schools football coach has been accused of sexual misconduct with one of his players. This individual is also accused of taking nude photos of the student and then posting those photos in the victim’s apartment building and in areas that would be on the way to his school.
Curtis Thomas worked at the Bronzeville Scholastic Institute High School when the alleged assault occurred. His official title was “school community representative.” Thomas was fired in 2014 and placed on a “do not hire” list.
CPS officials are not speaking publicly about the incident. They refused to indicate whether Thomas was a football coach on the team when the student was assaulted. Prosecutors, however, said that Thomas was among the football coaches on the team at the time of the assault. The boy was 15 in 2010 when the assault occurred.
There are allegedly two known victims of the former football coach.
The Charges
Curtis Thomas will face charges of criminal sexual assault, child pornography, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of the second victim.
The charges state that Thomas met one of the victims as a 14-year-old freshman football player. The player injured his tailbone after a tackle, and Thomas took him back to the locker room where he began to massage him. Thomas then removed the boy’s pants, and that is when the assault occurred. Thomas then took nude photos of the boy and threatened to show them to his mother if he ever told anyone.
The assaults continued to take place between 2010 and 2013. When the boy tried to stop the abuse, that’s when Thomas became vindictive and began posting his nude pictures in his apartment building.
The investigation began after Thomas allegedly pulled the boy out of one of his classes and escorted him into an empty classroom where he assaulted him. At the time, the victim denied that anything inappropriate happened.
The boy’s mother transferred him to another school. Thomas was told to have absolutely no contact with the victim. Thomas did not listen. The boy’s mother found a text from Thomas on his phone and that is when he opened up about the past three years of abuse. The mother filed a police report but believed that Thomas was still stalking her son. She then filed for an order of protection.
It was afterward that Thomas began posting nude pictures of the boy in his apartment complex including photos of the minor engaged in sex acts.
Thomas and his attorneys will struggle to mount any defense to these charges. It is unlikely that anyone willing to harm a minor so publicly considered the consequences of their actions. Not only did Thomas implicate himself in old crimes, he did so by implicating himself in new crimes. This includes the dissemination of child pornography and revenge porn.
Talk to a Chicago Criminal Defense Attorney
If you have been accused of a serious crime in the Chicago area, call the Chicago criminal defense attorney David Freidberg at (312) 560-7100 and we can begin preparing your defense immediately.