Thursday, May 16, 2013
Michael Divincenzo faces eight misdemeanor charges related to reports of physical assaults at Maine West High School in Des Plaines in 2012, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
A former varsity boys soccer coach and teacher at Maine West High School faces multiple criminal charges related to reports of bullying and hazing, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez stated on Wednesday. Michael Divincenzo was charged with eight misdemeanor counts including three counts of battery, one count of hazing and four counts of failure to report abuse as mandated, in incidents on June 1, 2012, Aug. 31, 2012 and Sept. 26, 2012, according to court documents. Divincenzo is accused of threatening freshmen students to have the varsity players stick their thumbs up their buttocks if they did not communicate properly during a soccer drill, according to the charges. Freshmen team players were held down by varsity players against …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A former Maine West High School soccer coach, Michael Divincenzo, faces multiple misdemeanor charges related to reports of hazing at the Des Plaines high school, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Michael Divincenzo, the former varsity boys soccer coach named in a bullying and hazing lawsuit filed by current and former students and their families, was charged on May 15 with multiple misdemeanor charges related to the reports of hazing incidents, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The criminal charges are separate from the civil lawsuit, which was filed by four current and former students. Antonio Romanucci, an attorney representing the students and their families, released the following statement in response to the criminal charges filed against Divincenzo: "The fact that Coach Divincenzo has been criminally charged brings no joy to the families whose children were brutally sexually abused while educators stood idly by allowing it to…
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A roundup of the most-read stories from March 31 to April 6.
Woman Screams After Waking to Intruder in Cowboy Hat published April 1. Grazie! Banquets Building up for Auction published April 3. Des Plaines Panera Gets Makeover published April 2. Cops Arrest Man Accused of Maine Township Burglaries published April 2. D-207 Cuts Deal with Maine West Coach Fired in Hazing Case published April 2. Find Patch on Facebook and click the like button.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Law enforcement, experts on hazing and victims of abuse speak at the Des Plaines Park District Leisure Center on May 22, Journal and Topics Newspapers reported.
Plans for a public forum about bullying and hazing are underway. The forum, which will include law enforcement officials, experts on bullying and hazing and victims of abuse, was organized in the wake of reports and investigations into incidents of sexual assault and abuse at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, Journal and Topics Newspapers reported. The hazing forum will be held at the Des Plaines Park District Leisure Center, 2222 Birch St. on May 22, Journal and Topics Newspapers reported. The local news outlet is sponsoring the event. Maine Township High School District 207 and Maine West have been entangled in a hazing scandal that came to light last fall, when students on the varsity soccer team reported incidents of abuse. Since …
Maine Township High School District 207 stated a statement made by a lawyer representing current and former Maine West High School students in a hazing lawsuit was “inaccurate and self-serving.”
Maine Township High School District 207 criticized a statement made by a lawyer in a hazing lawsuit regarding its agreement with a former employee. Michael Divincenzo, a former Maine West High School teacher and soccer coach fired over hazing allegations, dropped his appeal of the termination and agreed to cooperate with Maine Township High School District 207 in its defense of a lawsuit, D-207 stated on Monday. Antonio Romanucci the lawyer representing current and former Maine West High School students in a hazing lawsuit filed against district employees including Divincenzo, another former teacher and soccer coach and the principal at Maine West. “What once was an adversarial proceeding between Maine West and Coach Divo has now evolved …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Michael Divincenzo, a former Maine West High School varsity boys’ soccer coach, denied any wrongdoing in a statement regarding his dismissal of an appeal to his termination from Maine Township High School District 207.
A former Maine West High School soccer coach fired over hazing allegations has dropped his appeal of the termination and agreed to cooperate with Maine Township High School District 207 in its defense of a lawsuit. Michael Divincenzo said his decision to drop the challenge to his firing should not be construed as an admission of guilt. “I know that I have done nothing wrong and intend to vigorously contest the allegations in the pending civil case,” Divincenzo stated. “This has been a difficult decision that was made in the best interests of my family.” Current and former students sued District 207 and school officials alleging that bullying and hazing was allowed to go on for years. One of the four Maine West students suing school …
Michael Divincenzo is accused of knowing about the hazing incidents at the school.
The Maine West High School soccer coach accused of allowing hazing at the school is letting go of his fight to keep his job, the Chicago Tribune reports. Michael Dicincenzo has agreed to end his employment with the district in exchange for the district providing an attorney to represent him in court regarding the hazing allegations, the newspaper reports. One of the four Maine West High School students who is suing Maine Township High School District 207 administrators, faculty and staff over hazing and bullying allegations described his experiences, and said he believes his coach, Michael Divincenzo, knew about the assaults because he saw him wink at players, WGN reported. D-207 suspended Divincenzo without pay, pending the dismissal …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The law firm representing four former and current students in a hazing lawsuit against D-207 administrators and faculty claims a letter sent to Dr. Audrey Haugan from the parent of a student at the Des Plaines high school in 2008 is evidence Maine Townshi
A lawyer representing current and former students in the Maine West High School hazing case alleged that the school's principal knew about the abuse in 2008. Antonio Romanucci, of Romanucci & Blandin, said a letter sent to Maine West Principal Audrey Haugan in 2008 showed she knew about the abuse, and did not report it to District 207, as required by law. Ken Wallace, superintendent at D-207, said in November that the first reports the district received of bullying and hazing at the Des Plaines high school were in September 2012. Romanucci addressed the press outside the District 207 boardroom, where members were meeting in closed session about a variety of hazing-related issues. Romanucci said that the school board has acknowledged the …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Employee discipline and other issues related to the investigation of bullying and hazing reports at Maine West High School in Des Plaines will be discussed by Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education in Park Ridge on Thursday.
A special school district meeting to discuss a variety of issues related to bullying and hazing reports at Maine West High School in Des Plaines will be held in Park Ridge on Thursday. Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education voted in favor of initiating the dismissal process on one coach, Michael DiVincenzo, named in a lawsuit filed by four families of current or former students in November at a meeting in December, and other administrators, coaches and district employees are named in the complaint. Listed on the agenda for the closed session portion of the special board meeting, announced by D-207 on Tuesday, are matters related to individual students, appointment, employment, compensation, performance, discipline or …
Monday, January 7, 2013
The measure is one of several Maine Township High School District 207 has planned in response to allegations of hazing and bullying at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, D-207 stated on Jan. 3.
Maine Township High School District 207 has a series of preventative measures regarding hazing and bullying planned, and has taken several steps already to address the issue, D-207 stated on Jan. 3. The statement came in response to allegations outlined by a former Maine West student at his attorney’s office in Chicago on Jan. 3. Among the accusations, the former student and soccer player, now 19, said he believed coaches were aware of the physical and sexual assaults that he and many other players endured because, in part, he saw former boys varsity soccer coach Michael Divincenzo wink before and after the assaults took place. The D-207 board of education voted unanimously to begin dismissal proceedings on Divincenzo in December, and the …
Sam
1:21 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
In the May 16th Suntimes, the charges were dropped against the students who were involved because their peers (victims) didn't want to press charges. So are these kids saying it wasn't as bad as they claimed? If that's the case what is the coach being charged for? Did the coach force his team to hold down other students on the team and sodomize them? They interviewed 100 people regarding the … more ›