Ex-CPS Dean Gets 22 Years as New Sex-Abuse Suit Hits District

A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced former Chicago Public Schools dean Brian Crowder to 22 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a student while he oversaw discipline at Greater Lawndale High School for Social Justice in the city’s Little Village neighborhood. Crowder, 43, was convicted last month on multiple counts of criminal sexual assault and abuse dating from 2013 to 2015, when the victim was 15 to 17 years old. Prosecutors told the court that Crowder groomed the teenager over Snapchat, invited her to his home as often as six times a month, and twice posed as her stepfather to sign consent forms so she could obtain abortions in 2014 and 2015. Medical records and the forged forms were introduced at trial, along with social-media messages in which Crowder discussed the relationship. The sentencing came hours after a separate lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court accusing the Chicago Board of Education of negligent hiring and supervision. The suit asserts that CPS failed to perform a thorough background check on security guard Romel Campoverde, who had been arrested more than 15 times before he was hired at Farragut Career Academy and later charged in 2023 with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student. Chicago Public Schools declined to comment on the civil case but said student safety remains its priority. The district has been under federal monitoring since 2019, and its inspector general’s Sexual Allegations Unit logged 154 misconduct complaints between July 2024 and March 2025, 9% of them involving security staff.