Former Thornton Fractional teacher faced sex abuse claim more than a year before he and twin were charged
More than a year before identical twin brothers stopped teaching at the Thornton Fractional School District in Chicago's south suburbs, school administrators were aware of allegations that one of them had been sexually assaulting a student.
At the time, investigators determined the claim was unfounded, but both brothers have since been charged with sexually assaulting students, and prosecutors said they have clear evidence.
Aaron Richmond and Andre Richmond are both being held in Cook County Jail as they await trial.
The identical twin brothers, who worked as wrestling coaches and math teachers Thornton Fractional South and North High Schools, have both been charged with sexually assaulting teenage girls.
School district records show that, in June 2024, both teachers resigned from their positions on the same day.
Personnel records from District 215 show that, in January 2023, Thornton Fractional South received a tip through an online "See Something, Say Something" web link that Andre Richmond was having sex with a 16-year-old student in December of 2021.
Richmond was put on paid administrative leave for three weeks until he was reinstated, following an investigation by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Lansing police, which "determined the allegations not to be credible" because the witness recanted.
In that letter, Andre Richmond was reminded to "maintain professional boundaries with students," as their investigation found some lapses.
He remained as a teacher, allegedly victimizing a second female student in the spring of 2024, according to Lansing Police.
"What you experience psychologically as a victim of this is very confusing and overwhelming," said child sexual abuse prevention advocate Faith Colson, who survived sexual abuse at the hands of her Schaumburg High School teacher in the early 2000s.
Colson explained that students who have been sexually abused might recant their stories for a wide range of reasons, including fear, shame, or loyalty to the adult.
Court records showed police were ultimately able to prove the allegations first shared in that 2023 web tip through videos of the encounters saved in Snapchat.
Andre's brother, Aaron, was charged more than a year ago, also with sexually assaulting one of his students in 2024.
"The brother thing is what makes it bizarre, but the two people at the same school, I think that tracks," Colson said. "There's a situation where inappropriate interactions, or overly familiar interactions are normalized. Then it's very likely that they would be normalized for more than one person. So I do think the culture of the school could play a role here."
A spokesperson for the school district said, on the advice of the district's legal counsel, they will not be providing any further comment on this story.
Prior to working at Thornton Fractional, both brothers held different positions within Chicago Public Schools. Aaron also taught at De La Salle Institute, a private Catholic school in the Bronzeville neighborhood, and Andre taught at Thornton High School in Harvey.