CHICAGO — A disgraced Chicago Public Schools teacher was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday for sexually abusing and assaulting young male students entrusted to his care, according to court records.
Andrew Castro, 38, was a physical education teacher at Federico Garcia Lorca Elementary School in Avondale and came to know the victims’ families through the boys’ sporting events, prosecutors said. He grew so close to two of his victims that he expressed an interest in becoming their godfather.
Castro on Thursday pleaded guilty to predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child under 13, and exploitation of a child under 13, court records show. Judge Domenica Stephenson sentenced him to 10 years for the assault, seven years for each abuse case, and one year for the exploitation charge. Because two of the sentences will be served concurrently, his total prison term is 17 years.
Two brothers, who were between 8 and 11 years old at the time of the crimes, began visiting Castro’s home to play video games, watch movies, and spend the night, according to prosecutors. They said from 2018 to 2019, Castro engaged the boys in a “dice game” that required whoever rolled the lowest number to expose their private parts or engage in touching.
Officials said the sexual behavior escalated, and in June 2020, Castro sexually assaulted one of the boys, who was 11 years old. He repeatedly assaulted the boy over the next two years, prosecutors alleged.
Castro was arrested after another victim’s parents became concerned when they noticed cuts on the child’s arms. He revealed the abuse to a family member, and his parents reported it to Chicago police.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the victims was settled last year for $2 million, according to federal court records. Judge Andrea Wood ordered each boy to receive $444,444.44 in the settlement. Their attorneys collected a total of $666,666.66.
In May 2021, the school emailed parents to report that a staff member who “engaged inappropriately with a student” had been removed pending an investigation. The boys denied that Castro had done anything wrong when their parents asked, according to a lawsuit filed after authorities filed charges. The suit said the victims’ parents allowed the boys to continue to have sleepovers with Castro because CPS did not reveal that Castro had been suspended for sexual behavior.
Castro later informed one of the boys that he had been removed from the school and would not return until the boy who accused him of inappropriate touching graduated, according to the lawsuit.
In late autumn 2021, Castro raped one of the boys, who was 12 years old, after asking for a back massage, according to the lawsuit’s allegations. It said he raped the boy a second time after taking the boys on a shopping trip to Five Below and on a third occasion at Castro’s apartment.
An attorney from the CPS inspector general’s office contacted the parents of the two brothers in April 2022 to let them know they may have been involved with or witnessed inappropriate behavior by a staff member.
The attorney allegedly spoke with the boy during school hours with his parents’ permission. At Castro’s request, the boy lied about what had happened to protect Castro’s teaching license, the lawsuit said.
Finally, around Mother’s Day 2023, the boy who had been repeatedly sexually assaulted revealed the extent of Castro’s behavior to a female relative after he was found harming himself, according to the lawsuit. His parents went to the police. CPD detectives told them that Castro had four previous complaints about sexual abuse that the police department was required to tell the school district about, the suit alleged.
Castro is required to submit DNA to a law enforcement database and register as a sex offender for life.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a sentence of 17 years. A previous version incorrectly said he had been sentenced to 25 years.
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