High School
The principal of Peoria Notre Dame High School, Illinois, was found dead at his house. In this photo, pupils wait for the start of the first written test in philosophy as part of the Baccalaureat (France's high school diploma) at a school in Paris, June 15, 2017. Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images

A federal lawsuit was filed toward two security guards who allegedly had sex with female students at a public high school in suburban Chicago, Tuesday. The suit added that the school failed to protect the girls from sexual predators.

The 22-page complaint stated that officials of Evanston Township High School knew or should have recognized that staffers posed a risk for the 3,600 students enrolled in the institution.

The lawsuit was arranged on the eve of a new school year, months after Evanston High concluded its investigation on a drama teacher that abused several male students in the '70s and '80s.

On February, Michael B. Haywood, a security guard at the public high school was arrested on suspicion of sexually exploiting a student. But the suit filed on Tuesday mentions the possibility of more victims, including another sexual predator from the ranks of the security staff.

Prosecutors from Cook County charged Haywood, 34, of Evanston, with sexual assault by a person in authority for an incident that happened last year with a 17-year-old female student. Interestingly, she's not a plaintiff in the recently filed suit.

Chilling details from the lawsuit stated that Haywood "groomed" a different student in the high school. It added that the former security guard engaged in "unwanted and unauthorized sexual contact" more than 40 times with the girl in 2018 and 2019.

The lawsuit asserts that Haywood allegedly began to target the plaintiff, who graduated in June and is now 18 years old. It said that Evanston Township High didn't adequately notify parents of the allegations against Haywood after dismissing him in January.

The defendants in the suit include Evanston Township High School District 202 and the city of Evanston. In the litigation papers, it seeks damages for willful, reckless and negligent conduct in resisting to discuss systemic failures and documented patterns and habits of sexual abuse of minor female students.

When asked for a remark on the lawsuit, the city of Evanston declined to disclose on the pending legislation. Patrick Deignan, the city's communications manager, said that officials aren't allowed to talk about the ensuing legal affair.

The lead attorney for the plaintiff, Andrew M. Stroth, said that the sexual abuses appeared to be an "open secret" among some other staffers in Evanston High. He added that Haywood had an indecent relationship with his client for months but some chose to keep their mouths shut.

Stroth said that there were signs that the security guards targeted other girls at the school. He also believes that there are three of them, but he assumes that "there are even more."

It was a member of the Evanston High staff that alerted police in January. The call opened the investigation of Haywood, who has pleaded not guilty and was placed on electronic monitoring until he was charged in February.

In January, Eric Witherspoon, the school district's superintendent had resolved a suit related to allegations against a drama teacher. Witherspoon said that he agreed to spend $100,000 to improve existing programs on "sexual assault awareness and prevention."