Former Glenbard East High School Employee Pleads Guilty to Sexual Misconduct Involving 3 Male Students & is Sentenced to Prison

DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announced that Laurie Augustine, 42 (d.o.b. 10/07/61) a former full-time employee who worked in the Glenbard East High School library, pleaded guilty today to one (1) count of Criminal Sexual Assault and two (2) counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse. Pursuant to a plea agreement with the State, Judge Michael Burke sentenced her to a total of nine (9) years and four (4) months in the Illinois Department of Corrections, with six (6) years for the Criminal Sexual Assault and forty (40) months for the Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse charges. Augustine will turn herself in to authorities on August 6, 2004 to begin her sentence.

"The potential sentence on all the charges filed against this defendant could have resulted in decades in prison," noted State’s Attorney Birkett. "By this agreement, the defendant and the community realize the serious consequences of these illegal acts, yet the defendant will ultimately be allowed to return to the community and her family."

In September of 2001, the defendant met the three (3) male victims who were in their mid teens, while serving as an employee at Glenbard East High School. But the relationship with the victims changed in September of 2002. Between September 1, 2002 and October 10, 2002, the defendant engaged in inappropriate sexual acts with the three victims, acts which took place at numerous locations, including areas inside Glenbard East High School. 

The investigation into this case began in October of 2002 after a parent of one of the victims contacted authorities at the Lombard Police Department with concerns about their child’s relationship with the defendant. The Lombard Police Department in turn contacted the DuPage County Children’s Center of the State’s Attorney’s Office and a joint investigation was conducted. 

After completing the investigation Augustine was charged with forty (40) counts, including 20 counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse and 20 counts of Criminal Sexual Assault. Today, Augustine plead guilty to three (3) of those charges, each involving the three separate victims.

"These three students were not adults. They were children, and this defendant used her official capacity as an employee of this high school to gain their trust, and then victimized them," State’s Attorney Birkett commented. "The fact that the victims in this case were boys and the defendant was a woman is irrelevant. The law is clear. Anyone who sexually abuses children as this defendant did, is guilty of a felony and will suffer the consequences for those actions." 

State’s Attorney Birkett thanked the Lombard Police Department and the DuPage Children’s Center for the thorough and professional investigation they conducted. In addition, he thanked Assistant State’s Attorney Liam Brennan for his outstanding job in the prosecution of this case. Birkett also expressed his thanks to the administrators of Glenbard East High School for their cooperation throughout the investigation and prosecution of this case.

"Child victims, regardless of their gender, must be protected from those adults who abuse their positions of authority by committing crimes of sexual abuse," State’s Attorney Birkett added. "No one here is a winner. Three students were victimized by Laurie Augustine. Unfortunately, now the defendant’s own children will suffer as a result of those actions. The defendant’s six children will have to be without a mother while she serves the sentence that the court has imposed upon her. While we recognize the hardship to the family and are concerned for them, this is a factor the defendant should have considered before engaging in this reprehensible conduct."