PACEY
PAXTON — Attorneys for the Paxton Buckley-Loda school district and the other four defendants named in lawsuits alleging the inappropriate touching of female students by teacher and former coach Rob Pacey are requesting more time to respond to the civil complaints.
In a joint motion filed Friday, Aug. 29, in Ford County Circuit Court, the five defendants’ attorneys — Emily Schnidt of Borkan & Scahill Ltd. of Chicago, who is representing Pacey, and Michael Bersani of Hervas, Condon & Bersani PC of Itasca, who is representing the school district, PBL Junior High School Principal Josh Didier and former Superintendents Travis Duley and Cliff McClure — asked that a previously set Aug. 29 deadline for the filing of responses be moved to Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The motion noted that the plaintiffs’ attorney — Chicago civil rights attorney Bhavani Raveendran of Raveendran Law LLC — has no objection.
Judge Rebecca Foley of McLean County, who was reassigned the civil cases, is expected to consider the granting of the motion during a status hearing to be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, via Zoom. At that time, Foley is also expected to consider Raveendran’s motion to consolidate the cases into one, which the defendants’ attorneys said they do not oppose.
The first lawsuit was filed on June 6, naming three plaintiffs — Jane Doe A, B and C. A second lawsuit on behalf of a fourth plaintiff — Jane Doe D — was then filed on July 7, followed by a third lawsuit on behalf of a fifth plaintiff — Jane Doe E — on Aug. 11. All five plaintiffs are current or former PBL students.
In requesting an extension of time to file responses, the defendants’ attorneys noted that the two latter lawsuits were filed after Foley had already set the response deadline for Aug. 29. They said more time is needed to investigate the additional claims.
“Defendants are presently investigating the allegations of the consolidated complaints, determining representation, and therefore require additional time to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to the present complaint, as well as the proposed consolidated cases,” their motion for an extension of time said.
The lawsuits allege that complaints of Pacey having inappropriately touched female students were made repeatedly to administrators, who neglected, however, to take proper action to address the complaints, ignoring the school district’s own policies by never notifying the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services as required.
Not until this past January — when one of the alleged victims revealed her experiences with Pacey to a therapist, who subsequently contacted the DCFS — was the agency ever notified, the suits alleged. And even after the district was informed of an ensuing law enforcement investigation, administrators failed to immediately discipline
Pacey, who was not suspended until months later, the suits alleged.
Pacey has not been criminally charged and remains on the school district’s payroll, although district officials have declined to comment on whether he remains on paid administrative leave or has instead returned to work. Pacey, a STEM and technology teacher at Clara Peterson Elementary School and former head PBL Junior High School cross-country and girls’ track coach, has denied any wrongdoing.
Last month, a Title IX investigation into claims of inappropriate touching by Pacey led to a determination that there is “insufficient evidence” that he violated the district’s sexual harassment and sexual assault policies. The written determination was issued by Susan Oppenheimer of Columbus, Ohio-based INCompliance Consulting Inc. on Aug. 6 following a district-initiated investigation — led by attorneys Kaitlin Atlas and Jennifer Smith of the Chicago-based law firm of Franczek PC — into a Title IX complaint of sexual harassment and sexual assault filed March 21 by the student’s parents.
Notably, though, the Title IX investigation was not expanded to include additional allegations of inappropriate touching of other female students, including others suing the district, noted Raveendran, who represented the complainant in the Title IX case. While Raveendran is not appealing the determination, she has urged the district to look further into the numerous other complaints.
“As a large number of former students have come forward on social media and five individuals have now filed (civil) cases reporting Mr. Pacey’s inappropriate actions, the (Title IX complainant and her family) urge the school district to conduct a wider investigation into any past inappropriate physical conduct being made with female students,” Raveendran wrote to Oppenheimer.