DNA proves ex-CPS teacher fathered student's child; new records trace his history at her school
DNA confirms former CPS teacher fathered student’s child decades ago
Newly obtained CPS records trace a former Chicago teacher’s employment history and document later abuse allegations as Nancy Alexander continues her decadeslong fight for justice and access to her student records.
CHICAGO - Warning: This report contains details that some may find disturbing. Read at your own discretion.
CHICAGO — DNA testing confirmed a former Chicago Public Schools teacher fathered a child with a student who says he sexually abused her beginning when she was in elementary school. Now, newly obtained CPS records are filling in another critical piece of a five-decade-old paper trail.
Sexual abuse at CPS
The backstory:
Last month, Nancy Alexander told FOX Chicago that her elementary school teacher, Richard Neff, sexually abused her inside his classroom.
Alexander says the abuse began when she was about 12 or 13 years old.
"I was about 12 or 13 when he started penetrating me," Alexander told FOX Chicago.
Alexander says she became pregnant at 15 and gave birth at 16. Decades later, DNA testing involving one of Neff's daughters confirmed Neff fathered Alexander's child, according to the family.
Now, more than 200 pages of CPS records obtained by FOX Chicago through Freedom of Information Act requests are helping establish where Neff worked during that period.
Records trace Neff's CPS career back to 1969
Timeline:
The newly obtained documents trace Neff's history with Chicago Public Schools back more than five decades.
According to Neff's own résumé contained in the records, he was teaching at DuSable Upper Grade Center by October 1969.
DNA proves CPS teacher fathered student’s child, but law says it’s too late
After 40 years of carrying the trauma alone, Nancy Alexander received DNA confirmation linking her daughter’s father to her alleged abuser — but a statute of limitations prevents criminal charges.
CPS personnel records show Neff later held assignments that included Farren and Parkman elementary schools between September 1973 and June 1982.
Separate records specifically place Neff at Farren in 1978 and back at Parkman from June through August 1983. Records from that period indicate Neff specialized in assisting students with learning disabilities.
That is significant because Alexander says she attended Farren and was assigned to Neff for help with reading.
"As a kid I had epilepsy," Alexander said. "They felt that I was falling behind, that I needed help. And they was like, ‘Oh, she can go to Mr. Neff class. He could teach her how to read.’"
Alexander says instead of receiving the help she needed, she was sexually abused by Neff inside his classroom.
When FOX Chicago asked how no one inside the building knew what was happening, Alexander described a classroom where windows could be covered and doors locked.
"Nobody never came in his classroom. Nobody never said anything to him," Alexander said. "It was like he was not there."
The newly obtained documents establish Neff's employment with CPS and place him at Farren during the period surrounding Alexander's allegations.
But another potentially critical set of documents remains out of reach: Alexander's own CPS student records.
CPS records show allegations later reached district
Dig deeper:
The newly released documents also show CPS later became aware of sexual abuse allegations involving Neff.
One CPS record says the district received allegations on Sept. 26, 2022, involving a former student who reported being sexually abused by Neff beginning in elementary school in the late 1970s and continuing through 1982.
According to the record, the former student alleged the contact began with Neff rubbing her shoulders and escalated to sexual activity, including alleged encounters inside a classroom.
The woman also alleged Neff told her not to tell anyone and that no one would believe her.
The CPS record does not identify that former student as Alexander.
Another district document says the complaint had been "previously documented" and indicates the CPS Office of Inspector General had an open investigation involving the allegations.
The records released to FOX Chicago do not show the final outcome of that investigation.
DNA provides another critical piece
Alexander says she kept the identity of her daughter's father secret for decades.
After becoming ill, she decided she did not want to die without revealing the truth.
Using a DNA-matching website, Alexander connected with one of Neff's daughters. Neff's daughter later traveled to Chicago and provided DNA to police.
The family says testing confirmed Neff fathered the daughter Alexander gave birth to while she was a minor.
Neff's daughter also helped Alexander report the allegations to CPS.
"This happened on school property," she previously told FOX Chicago. "My father was her reading teacher. She never learned how to read."
Alexander takes fight for her records to court
What's next:
Alexander is now fighting for another piece of the paper trail: her own CPS student records.
Her attorney says repeated attempts to obtain Alexander's records from Farren and Parkman elementary schools have gone unanswered.
A lawsuit naming the Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools asks a judge to order the district to produce Alexander's student records.
A court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 3, 2026, as Alexander seeks access to those records and hopes a judge will clear the way for CPS to release them.
Those records could help answer a question that has remained unresolved for decades: Do Alexander's own school records place her and Neff inside the same school at the same time?
Neff, now 79, is not named as a defendant in that lawsuit.
When FOX Chicago first reported Alexander's allegations, CPS said the district is "committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for our students and staff" and "continually enhances its policies and procedures to improve school safety and security."
Illinois has since eliminated the criminal statute of limitations for certain sexual offenses. However, that change is not retroactive and does not necessarily revive cases in which the statute of limitations had already expired.
For Alexander, the newly obtained CPS documents do not end her search for answers.
But nearly five decades after she says the abuse began, the records provide something she did not have before: a CPS paper trail documenting Neff's employment and placing him at Farren during the period surrounding her allegations.
Now, Alexander is hoping her own school records will provide the next piece.
When asked what justice looks like after all these years, Alexander's answer was simple: "I need justice. I want justice."
FOX Chicago will continue following Alexander's court fight and the effort to obtain her CPS student records.
The Source: The information in this report came from newly obtained Chicago Public Schools records, CPS personnel documents, Alexander’s lawsuit, DNA testing cited by her family, and interviews with Nancy Alexander and her attorney.