Wheaton North teacher gets 10 years in sexual assault of student

by: Clifford Ward

chicagotribune

A Wheaton North High School teacher was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to sexually assaulting a student.

Edwin Klemm, 43, who was charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault, received consecutive five-year terms, DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pawl said.

The St. Charles resident was arrested in March after the student’s parents discovered a love letter Klemm had written to their daughter. Authorities alleged that Klemm and the student engaged in a relationship between February and November 2011, when the girl was 16.

Klemm pleaded guilty to charges that he and the student engaged in sex acts in a school classroom and in his car, behind a West Chicago coffee shop, Pawl said. The student ended the relationship, authorities said. She was attending college when the arrest was made.

Before he was led from court, Klemm apologized to Judge George Bakalis and to those who were hurt by his actions, Pawl said. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence, minus 100 days of credit for the time he has spent in DuPage County Jail, Pawl said. Klemm also must register as a sex offender and resign his teaching job.

Klemm had been on unpaid leave pending the outcome of his case, Erica Loiacono, a spokeswoman for Community Unit School District 200, said Wednesday. DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said Klemm “abused his authority in a most revolting way.”

“He took advantage of a young girl just to satisfy his own sick desires,” Berlin said. “Today his devious ways have caught up to him as he accepts responsibility for the pain he has caused his young victim.”

This article was written by   Clifford Ward  and originally published on chicagotribune