Original Blog Entry: Teacher paid students with drugs and alcohol

truesee — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:01:41 GMT

Sep 16, 2009 11:52 am US/Central

Suburban Teacher Accused Of Giving Kids Booze, Pot

Kym Krocza Taught In Fox Lake

Kym Krocza, an algebra teacher at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, has been charged with giving alcohol and marijuana to students at her home.

Lake County Sheriff's Office

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (STNG) ? A 41-year-old far north suburban high school teacher has been chargedwith two counts of contributing to the criminal delinquency of a juvenile after a police investigation found she had supplied students with marijuana and alcohol at her home.

The investigation began when a concerned parent reported to the Lake County Sheriff's office that her child had been to Kym Krocza's home recently, and the child was supplied with alcohol and marijuana by Krocza, according to a release from Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran's office.

Further investigation revealed that other students had also been to Krocza's home, 36300 N. Wilson Rd. in Ingleside, and they were supplied with Zoloft, marijuana and alcohol. The incidents are believed to have taken place between January and August of this year, the release said.

Krocza, who works as an algebra and calculus teacher at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, has been charged with two counts of contributing to the criminal delinquency of a juvenile, a Class 4 felony, the release said.

Further charges are possible in the future.

Krocza was taken before the Lake County Judge Raymond Collins late Tuesday afternoon where her bond was set at $50,000. Krocza posted 10 percent of her bond and was released Tuesday evening. Her next scheduled court date is September 18 for a status hearing. If convicted, Krocza could face up to six years in prison.

Investigators are continuing the investigation and looking for more instances of occasions where Krocza may have supplied students with alcohol or drugs.

RELATED STORY

Police: Fox Lake teacher paid students with drugs, alcohol

September 16, 2009

DAN ROZEK

Chicago Sun-Times

Staff Reporter

A teacher at a Fox Lake high school recruited two teenage girls to do chores around her home then paid the 14-year-olds for their work with marijuana, alcohol and prescription Zoloft, Lake County authorities said today.

Kym Krocza, 41, faces felony charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly providing the teens with the drugs and alcohol between January and August, officials said.

Kym Krocza

(Police photo)

Since her Tuesday arrest, Krocza has been suspended from her job as a calculus and algebra teacher at Grant Community High in Fox Lake the school the two teens began attending last month. Krocza teaches both the girls, authorities said.

But Krocza allegedly knew the teens before they started attending the school because they live near her home in unincorporated Ingleside, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said.

She befriended the victims prior to them becoming her students, Curran said.

She asked the girls in January to do work around her home, including helping with laundry and cleaning the house, then allegedly gave them marijuana, alcohol and Zoloft an anti-depressant drug as payment, Curran said.

Investigators are trying to determine if other teens who went to Krocza s home also might have been supplied with illegal substances, Curran said, who expressed disappointment at the allegations against Krocza.

We would have hoped that a teacher is someone who could have been trusted with teens, Curran said.

Krocza, who is free after posting 10 percent of her $50,000 bail, couldn t be reached for comment.

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