(MCT) — A Stevenson High School student who received "awkward and creepy" text messages from his dean told authorities that he found the attention strange but couldn't figure out how to make it stop, according to a police report.
The dean, Paul Weil, who handled disciplinary matters, resigned last week after the Lincolnshire school's investigation into his alleged conduct went public. He will not face criminal charges in the case, Lake County prosecutors said Thursday.
The student told a police officer and a school administrator that the texts began around the time of the school's homecoming dance last year, when he asked Weil to help him play a prank on his girlfriend; under the ruse of being in trouble, she was to be called to Weil's office, where the student would surprise her and ask her to the dance.
About a month after the dance, though, Weil's messages allegedly became more personal, asking about the student's home life, job and weekend plans. The student claimed Weil also asked to talk to him by phone outside of school hours.
"It was just weird," the student said, according to interview notes contained in the police report. "Sometimes I would not respond or think of excuses but I didn't say that I didn't want to talk with him on the phone."
In February and March, Weil allegedly sent text messages the student found inappropriate. They included comments about the student's new job ("Pizza delivery boy? Hot") and an out-of-state trip ("Don't come home with a venereal disease").
The student said he did not feel threatened by the texts, which he called "awkward and creepy," though he wanted them to stop. The messages came to the attention of school officials after the parent of another Stevenson student told a staffer about them, the report said.
Weil, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, allegedly told police he regarded the messages as "friendly banter" with a teen who needed a positive male role model. He said he also allowed the student to have alternative punishments for bad behavior, an arrangement he did not afford to others.
The dean said he deleted some of his messages with the student earlier this year after the school confiscated student phones as part of an investigation into on-campus drug dealing. Weil was one of the officials who searched the phones for incriminating texts, Stevenson spokesman Jim Conrey said.
Weil said he later resumed electronic contact after the student texted him again, according to the report.
Stevenson has no policy governing texting and other communication between students and staff, but a group has been working on one and the school plans to have it in place by the fall, Conrey said.