Dan Proft returned to the ongoing story out of Libertyville High School’s District 128, where a lawsuit filed earlier this year accuses former teacher Parker Roadie of grooming and sexually abusing a 15-year-old student with Down syndrome during the fall 2024 semester. According to the complaint, Roadie is alleged to have conditioned grades and extra credit on the student’s compliance with demands for physical affection, and to have cultivated the relationship over time, including through a weekly pattern of taking the student out for lunch. Voicemails that surfaced as part of the case reportedly show Roadie instructing a colleague to award the student extra credit tied to his classroom policy rewarding affection, while disparaging staff members who had witnessed his conduct.
Then-assistant superintendent Bryant Kelly was placed on administrative leave last spring over how the district responded to the allegations, which critics say amounted to closing ranks around Roadie rather than reporting the abuse as required under Illinois law. The case drew wider attention after Dan Vosnos, a former Libertyville educator and athletic director who is now senior director of development for the National Down Syndrome Society, addressed the school board directly, citing internal emails he says show the district moved to offer Roadie an early retirement buyout rather than report him to authorities. Vosnos, whose own seven-year-old son has Down syndrome, argued at the time that mandated reporters who knowingly fail to report suspected abuse can face criminal liability under Illinois law, up to a felony if they act to shield someone from accountability.
Proft brought back Dan Vosnos for an update on where the case stands. Vosnos said Kelly was fired for cause at a school board meeting earlier this week, a move that strips his salary though he will still be eligible to collect a six-figure pension once he reaches retirement. Vosnos said he has been working with the Libertyville Police Department after initially being redirected there by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, and that additional families have since come forward to speak with investigators about other alleged instances of grooming or abuse involving staff at the school, including at least one other teacher who Vosnos said was quietly allowed to retire this past year.
Vosnos said pursuing criminal charges against Roadie specifically has proven difficult because such cases typically hinge on the word of the child involved, which he said is especially complicated when the student has a cognitive disability that affects how they describe their relationship with an adult they trust. He said he believes the district recently reached a civil settlement with the family in the underlying lawsuit, funded by taxpayers, though he said he did not know Roadie’s current whereabouts and assumed he, too, will eventually collect a pension.
Vosnos said accountability extends well beyond Kelly and Roadie. He said records he and other families obtained through public records requests show an internal investigation ordered by the district’s current superintendent, who inherited the situation, found that four other administrators still employed by the district failed to report the initial allegations alongside Kelly. He said he suspects those administrators received little more than a note in their personnel files, and argued that a pattern of internal handling rather than mandatory reporting could expose officials to felony charges rather than misdemeanors. Vosnos also noted that Kelly previously served as the high school’s athletic director and had worked directly with Roadie when Roadie was a track coach, suggesting the two had a preexisting relationship that may have factored into how the district responded. He pointed out that the school board president at the time, who had served for more than a decade, resigned in the middle of his term last spring, a detail Vosnos suggested raises questions about how much the board knew and when.
Vosnos said he hopes the additional families now coming forward will continue speaking with the Libertyville Police Department, and that he is working with state legislators on stronger reporting requirements and background-check laws to protect students with disabilities going forward.