A lawsuit has been filed against Libertyville High School accusing the school district of knowing of a teacher’s history but still allowing him around children where he sexually abused a disabled student during a “campaign of grooming.”
The lawsuit was filed by Feagans Law Group, based in Chicago, on behalf of an unnamed mother and daughter.
It names Parker Rohde, who was a teacher at Libertyville High School, and Libertyville Community High School District 128 as defendants.
The daughter, who has Down Syndrome and intellectual disabilities, attended Libertyville High School and was a 15-year-old in her junior year beginning in the fall 2024 semester.
The suit said the girl met Rohde at that time and he began his “campaign of grooming” that led to the repeated sexual assault and abuse of “Jane Doe.”
The acts occurred on school premises and “in spite of the actual or constructive” knowledge of various school staff members and administrators, the complaint alleges.
The complaint said the victim was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and lives with a significant intellectual disability affecting her cognitive functioning, social communication, ability to understand boundaries and capacity to self-advocate or report inappropriate conduct.
Rohde knew of her disability and vulnerability and “exploited those characteristics” in the course of his misconduct, the lawsuit said.
The complaint said Rohde told the girl “I love you,” required her to hug and “squeeze” him for his own sexual gratification and conditioned grades or extra credit on her compliance with the demands.
The lawsuit said that his conduct was “apparently widespread” and impacted several students over a period of years.
In October 2024, the student left school in a “state of visible distress, hysterically crying and unable to communicate to her mother what had occurred during the school day” and Rohde approached the student’s mother’s car, struck the window repeatedly and said, “We had a good day, she had a good day!” in a way that alarmed the woman.
The complaint said Rohde left a voicemail, while on a leave of absence, with a coworker and instructed them to give the victim 50 points of extra credit because he had implemented a new policy in his classroom where students who said, “I love you” and allowed him to hug them were given extra credit.
Rohde also referred to two teachers or staff members as “rats” and “snakes” who had been “allowed to run free in his classroom” during the same voicemail, in an apparent reference to staff who had witnessed his inappropriate conduct with students, the complaint said.
Rohde allegedly made “disturbing and inappropriate statements” in the same voicemail linking his emotional closeness to female students with green eyes to the “presence” of his deceased mother, the suit said.
The voicemail was reviewed and escalated to administrators of the school district but they did not report Rohde to Illinois DCFS or law enforcement or notify families, the suit said.
The district instead extended Rohde’s leave of absence and hired a long-term substitute while allowing Rohde continued access to students, the complaint said, adding that he continued contacting the victim.
In January 2025, the victim’s mother received a phone call from an assistant principal and was asked to meet with a group of administrators to discuss grading practices in one of the girl’s classes.
Rohde arrived intoxicated at the victim’s mother’s workplace approximately 12 minutes later, parked diagonally across four parking spaces and informed the security guards he had an appointment with the mother, the complaint said.
The mother was working remotely that day and confirmed she did not have an appointment with him. Rohde was escorted off the premises by security and police.
The lawsuit said the mother called the school district seeking an explanation for his conduct and an associate superintendent disclosed the nature of Rohde’s misconduct but urged her not to seek an order of protection for her and her daughter as the district would “handle the matter internally,” according to the lawsuit.
The victim’s mother learned Rohde had previously been accused of stalking two former students and had been placed on administrative leave around 2022 but was later allowed to return to Libertyville High School, where he was reassigned to a special education classroom, the complaint said.
The suit said the victim’s mother met with school administrators at the end of January 2025 and it was revealed that the district already knew that Rohde had been grooming the victim and other students.
“During the same meeting, Ms. Silverberg also told MS. DOE that she was “lucky” District 128 administration had not called her on New Year’s Eve with the news, as ‘much worse had been disclosed’ regarding other students,” the suit said.
The staff informed the mother that they had not made any DCFS reports or police reports because the victim has a significant disability, the complaint alleged.
“Libertyville High School and Community High School District #128 had a duty to thoroughly investigate knowledge or suspicion of sexual abuse involving one of its teachers and minor students, and to take appropriate action to prevent further abuse to Plaintiff,” the lawsuit said.
“Defendants, Libertyville High School and Community High School District #128, breach of this duty, as well as other duties through inaction and inadequate action, resulting in catastrophic consequences to the welfare and wellbeing of Plaintiff due to their failure to properly investigate, prevent, disclose, discover, or concealer Rohde’s acts of sexual misconduct towards Plaintiff,” the suit added.
A District 128 board meeting was held on March 16 and numerous members of the public spoke out and criticised the school district for their handling of the situation and failure to protect students, despite red flags involving Rohde.
One parent called for the resignation of administrators, citing failure to follow mandatory reporting laws. The speakers also questioned how a teacher with the history that Rohdes had was allowed to remain employed and around students.
“I believe there are serious and systematic failures within the district’s human resources leadership that require your immediate attention,” parent Jeanette Higham said, adding that there were five areas of non-compliance.
“When potential student safety issues arise, the law is clear. Those concerns must be reported and handled immediately and appropriately. This failure to follow those procedures puts students at risk and exposes the district to serious legal consequences,” Higham said, adding that there is a “troubling pattern” of student complaints of misconduct that are not addressed with appropriate accountability.
The Feagans Law Group told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that they did not wish to comment publicly on the pending legal matter.
Libertyville Community High School District 128 said in a statement that they are aware of the lawsuit but cannot disclose details under federal and state law confidentiality requirements.
“The District also refrains from commenting on pending litigation. The District is following all required laws and procedures. The District’s priority remains providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students. We will share additional information if and when it becomes appropriate to do so,” the district said in the statement.
A case management conference in the lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount in damages in excess of $50,000, is set for April 9.