Former Oswego East student sues former teacher and school district for sex abuse

A former Oswego East High School student is alleging she was sexually abused by a former Oswego East High School teacher when she was a student and that Oswego School District 308 was aware of the abuse and took no action.

Diana Mondragon and her attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Feb. 1 against former Oswego East teacher Justin Query, the Oswego School District, the Oswego School Board, former Oswego East assistant principal James Seput, Oswego East teacher Stephanie Scapino, Oswego East social worker Dina Schnable and Lynn Demke, a security dean’s assistant at Oswego East.

“I was very vulnerable, I was very depressed,” Mondragon said in talking about the abuse during a news conference Thursday at the offices of Chicago-based Disparti Law Group. “I was an easy target for him.”

Query could not be reached for comment Thursday about the lawsuit. In a statement, SD308 officials said the safety, security, and well-being of the district’s students are non-negotiable priorities for District 308.

“We will continue to take all necessary measures to create an environment where every student can learn and thrive without fear,” according to the statement. “This unfortunate incident serves as a solemn reminder of the importance of our ongoing commitment to student safety, and we will relentlessly pursue this mission to the fullest extent possible.”

Officials added the July 2023 implementation of Faith’s Law in Illinois puts into place reporting responsibilities for each level of administration of teaching licenses and employment with children.

“The statute equips schools across Illinois with better information regarding the employment history of an applicant or employee of a contractor; gives schools the resources necessary to make well-informed decisions about who they are employing/contracting with and protects students from acts of sexual misconduct by school employees, substitute employees, and employees of contractors,” District 308 officials said.

At an Oswego School Board meeting last September, it was announced that Query had resigned following an investigation by the district that he engaged in grooming behavior with a student.

Query, who had taught English at Oswego East High School, resigned effective Sept. 14. He had been employed by District 308 since 2005.

He voluntarily rescinded his professional educator license to the state of Illinois, Theresa Komitas, the district’s executive director of communications and public relations, said at the time.

Mondragon is a 2008 graduate. According to the lawsuit, Query began grooming her in the 2006-07 school year, when she had him as her teacher for junior English, “which is when he began his campaign of grooming that would ultimately lead him grooming and sexually abusing her throughout the remainder of her high school career,” according to the lawsuit.

“He targeted her because he realized that Diana at the time was a vulnerable young woman, just like so many of our students are,” attorney Cass Casper of the Disparti Law Group said during the news conference. “He gave her gifts, he took her places, he gave her his number.”

The suit alleges that in spring 2008 – when Mondragon was 17 years old – the two had sexual intercourse in her car, which was parked in front of Query’s apartment.

“Query subsequently had intercourse with Diana at least ten times in her car toward the end of her senior year while she was a minor,” according to the lawsuit. “This occurred once or twice a week, always in the parking lot in front of Query’s building. On one occasion, Query told Diana that she was his girlfriend.”

The suit also alleges that “multiple OEHS officials were aware that Query was abusing Diana and failed to intervene to stop it.”

After she graduated from high school, the relationship became public, with photos of the both of them being posted on social media, according to the lawsuit.

“Despite that they clearly depict Query having a relationship with a former student, OEHS continued to allow Query to teach students for another decade up until Fall 2023,” according to the lawsuit.

Her relationship with Query continued until about 2015. The suit also alleges that Query groomed 16-year-old Oswego East student Raquel Rocha in or about 2006.

Mondragon began experiencing extreme emotional distress and trauma in or around 2022, according to the lawsuit, and asked OEHS officials to conduct an investigation.

In June 2023, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners suspended Query’s Iowa teaching license for a minimum of 12 years for alleged sexual involvement with a student almost 20 years ago. In the settlement agreement, he denies the allegations but “acknowledges the evidence in the case may support a finding he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student,” according to the agreement.

The victim in that case also was at the news conference.

“We need reforms to prevent this kind of abuse from ever happening again,” Casper said during the news conference.