Berwyn principal's attorney seeks to dismiss case

[Berwynite]

Berwyn principal's attorney seeks to dismiss case

By Brett McNeil
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 9, 2005


An attorney for a Berwyn elementary school principal, charged with three counts of failing to report allegations of child abuse to authorities, is seeking to have the charges tossed out because they were filed after the state statute of limitations normally would have expired.

Karen Grindle, 53, who has been principal at South Berwyn Elementary School District 100's Pershing School for six years, was charged in March with misdemeanors for failing to inform authorities about allegations made in 2001 against band teacher Robert Sperlik Jr.

After a brief appearance Wednesday inside the Maywood branch of the Cook County Circuit Court, Grindle's attorney, William P. Murphy, said his client is innocent and the case against her is baseless.

"In legal terms, this is a [worthless] case," he said outside court.

Murphy said the statute of limitations for misdemeanors is typically 18 months, and he argues in a pending legal motion that the case against Grindle is without merit because she wasn't charged with any wrongdoing for almost four years.

Prosecutors argue that the statute of limitations for failure to report allegations of child abuse is much longer than 18 months.

Sperlik is accused of abusing 16 female students--aged 9 to 14--from 1998 to 2003. Authorities say Sperlik bound girls to chairs, gagged them and touched them inappropriately in six school buildings, including Pershing.

He has been in police custody since January and faces more than 100 criminal counts.

Authorities allege that Grindle did not call police or child welfare officials in 2001 after receiving a letter from two students who said Sperlik had touched their thighs and felt the backs of their bras through their shirts.

A school district attorney has repeatedly denied that the students' letter made any allegations of sexually inappropriate contact, and Murphy on Wednesday reiterated that stance.

"These were allegations that were investigated at the time [by district officials]," Murphy said. "The parents were brought in, and there were never allegations of a sexual nature."

Authorities also allege that Grindle did not report a subsequent complaint against Sperlik for inappropriate touching.

----------

bmcneil@tribune.com