A former Chicago Public Schools administrator has been found guilty of sexually abusing a former student.
Former dean Brian Crowder was found guilty on multiple charges after a brief jury deliberation Wednesday, with the jury convicting him on charges of sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a former student.
It was alleged that Crowder used his position of authority as dean of discipline at the social justice school at Little Village Lawndale High School to exploit the student.
Crowder was found guilty on four counts in the case and was remanded into the custody of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
It is alleged that the relationship began with exchanges of Snapchat messages, but those messages ultimately became sexual in nature, according to prosecutors.
His defense team had argued that they do not dispute the two had sex, but it is up to the prosecution to prove that they had sex while she was underage. They also accused her of trying to extort money from Crowder.
NBC 5 Investigates is not identifying the woman who accused Crowder of sexual assault, but she spoke to us at length during an interview in April as part of our reporting for our series “Lessons in Betrayal,” which uncovered allegations of grooming and teacher misconduct at Little Village Lawndale High School dating back several years.
A months-long investigation by NBC 5 Investigates has uncovered allegations of grooming and teacher misconduct dating back more than a decade at one Chicago Public School.
Prosecutors allege their relationship occurred between 2013 and 2016 while she was still attending Little Village Lawndale High School. Court records and her interview with NBC 5 Investigates detail it extended until at least 2018 when she broke things off.
“And it started like sophomore (year) in school. But like we didn’t really get to like that level until like I guess like the summer when he sent that Snap like ‘I want you’ or whatever,” the former student told NBC 5 Investigates during an April interview.
During Tuesday’s testimony, she mentioned several things that she discussed during our interview including that she and Brian Crowder began communicating over Snapchat while she was a student and he was her dean.
“Obviously, we had a sexual relationship. at one point I got pregnant the first time,” she said.
The trial of a former Chicago Public Schools dean who is accused of sexually abusing a student continued Wednesday. NBC Chicago’s Bennett Haeberle reports.
The former student said when she learned she was pregnant the first time during the school year, she told Crowder she intended to keep it and give birth.
“And when I said that, he just kind of like went crazy and it was all bad after that. And he’s like, ‘you can’t do this to me, and we can’t have this baby.’ And you know, and so eventually he convinced me to have the abortion. And after that, it just was all bad,” she said.
Prosecutors alleged that Crowder posed as the victim’s stepfather twice so that she could get abortions while she was still in high school. She also underwent a third abortion after she left school, according to court records.
Crowder’s defense team challenged the student’s credibility with the jury, saying that she had asked him for money in exchange for not going through with the case in 2021.
A sentencing date was not immediately set.