Teen sexually assaulted 13-year-old girl during field trip in Aurora: lawsuit
Cody Pomrenke | Kane County sheriff's office
AURORA, Ill. - A high school student allegedly lured a 13-year-old girl into a restroom and raped her during a field trip earlier this year in west suburban Aurora, according to a lawsuit.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Kane County circuit court, alleges that Northern Illinois Academy was negligent and failed to supervise or separate the two students leading up to the sex assault in a bathroom of the Aurora Public Library.
Cody Pomrenke, 18, has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse in the April 15 incident, according to the Kane County sheriff’s office. He posted a $50,000 bail on May 5, a day after being charged. The case is pending.
The lawsuit was filed by the girl and her unnamed father. It lists Pomrenke, Northern Illinois Academy and the school’s corporate owner, Sequel Schools LLC, as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, Pomrenke had a history of sexual aggression at the school, and the school was aware of it. The suit alleges that Pomrenke groomed the girl prior to the field trip, and that the school school should have kept the pair separated and under direct supervision.
But the school left them alone during a field trip and allowed Pomrenke to lure the girl into a men’s restroom in the library and sexually assault her, the lawsuit states. The girl no longer attends Northern Illinois Academy, 998 Corporate Blvd. in Aurora.
The suit seeks unspecified damages from the defendants.
“Rape is the most horrific injury a woman, or here, a child, can suffer,” attorney of the plaintiff Francis Patrick Murphy said in a statement. “With professional counseling, we hope [she] will be able to overcome her injuries.”
Northern Illinois Academy and Sequel Schools LLC did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Pomrenke’s public defender declined to comment. It was unclear who is representing Pomrenke in the lawsuit.