Thank you,
Mr. Mayor,… esteemed members of the City Council.
My name is Joseph Kopsick. I
currently live in Waukegan, but for most of the first eighteen years of my life,
I lived in Lake Bluff. I attended Lake Forest High School, graduating in 2005.
My father is an attorney, a
former member of the District 65 school board (in the 1990s), and served as
president of the Lake County Bar Association for one year in the 2000s. In 1993,
he defended a child molester in court for attempted rape of a 19-year-old. And
in 1995 and 1996 – when I was eight and nine – my father molested and raped me
multiple times.
My father has a friend – an attorney
based in Lake Forest – who grabbed my behind, and the behinds of other
children, at his pool parties in the 1990s. He did this openly, while talking loudly
about what he was doing – in full view of the other adults present – who did
nothing about it, besides laugh, and continue drinking.
But that’s
not what I’m here to talk about.
I rise, this evening, to bring
your attention to a problem in this community which has gone unresolved for some
time now. That problem is Dave Miller.
You might have heard - within
the last three years - that former L.F.H.S. theater director David Miller, was
accused of sending inappropriate text messages to several teenage boys.
Now, some of you might be
thinking, “A child-molesting teacher? In my town? That can’t be; or else I
would have heard something about it.” And why is that? Because you’ve heard
of everything that has ever happened? Or because people enjoy talking about bad
news?
This is the “culture of
silence” that allows child abuse to happen undetected and without consequences.
If a problem is not pleasant to talk about, then we ignore it. And it festers.
That’s why
it should be no surprise to you, to discover that David Miller has been abusing
teenage boys on and off since 1976. He has been allowed to sexually
humiliate this community’s children for forty-seven years – more than
two generations – without a single trial, and (evidently) without a single criminal charge, an arrest, or even one moment in jail.
Not only did Miller admit
that the texts he sent were inappropriate, but several boys were intimidated
into saying that they were not; by an L.F.H.S. official whom I’d be glad to
name (Jay Hoffmann).
In 2019, Judge Joseph Salvi
prevented those boys’ lawsuit from going forward, correctly applying Illinois’s
Statute of Limitations on reporting child abuse after a certain amount of time
(a statute which, of course, does not apply to litigants whom already got trials and lost them).
But the story doesn’t end
there.
That’s because, in 2020 – thanks to a new
law signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker – those statutory limitations were
curtailed. The effects of that new law – House Bill 2135 – included a provision
that the Statute of Limitations on reporting criminal sexual assault does not
begin running during a period when the victim is subject to intimidation.
Now, Governor Pritzker can pat
himself on the back all he wants; for testing a few of those rape kits that had
built-up in police evidence lockers, and for partially repealing that Statute
of Limitations. But the odds that he would ever sign a complete
repeal of those statutes, are probably very low. That’s because his cousin, Tom
Pritzker… was friends with Jeffrey Epstein. (Forbes, Wall Street Journal,
Chicago Business).
To the public officials in the
audience: How many of you knew that there is no longer any limitation on
bringing abuse lawsuits, for victims who were intimidated? Raise your hands.
To the educators in the
audience: How many of you knew that?
Well, how are children
supposed to learn that, if you didn’t know that?
Now, you might say, “That’s too
difficult or controversial a subject for our children to learn.” To which I
say, “No, it’s not. Not for the juniors and seniors who are studying pre-law at
L.F.H.S.. Not if you want your kids to be able to defend themselves
against child molesters legally as well as physically.”
And besides, Dave Miller is not
the only teacher in this community who has been accused of attempting to molest
children.
There’s Cynthia Martin, an
L.F.H.S. coach and driving instructor who abused girls in the 1980s.
She employed the same methods that Miller did; seeking-out students who were
vulnerable because they had lost friends or family members, and then plying
them with alcohol and marijuana, and gradually introducing physical touch.
Martin’s case was decided in February 2022, but information on it is difficult
to find. It’s not clear that she was ever punished.
Next, there’s Lake Bluff
Junior High math teacher and soccer coach Charles Ritz III. He abused kids in the 1970s and 1980s, claiming
at least five male victims, who alleged that school officials helped cover-up for
Ritz, in the same way that school officials did for Dave Miller. In 2017, Ritz
pled guilty. He received no jail time, and just two years’ probation. That
junior high later changed its name to Lake Bluff Middle School.
There’s also Diane M. Ross, a
mother from Lake Bluff who taught English literature at Lake Forest College. She
submitted to arrest in 2000 after police determined that she had shared images
of child abuse on an online web forum. She pled guilty to solicitation of child
pornography, but the charges of disseminating child pornography were
dropped. She received no jail time… two years of probation… - are you noticing
a pattern? - … and community service.
So that’s four teachers
– in just two adjacent towns – who were discovered to be pedophiles, within a
span of thirty years.
But that’s not all.
Jonathan Dick, the owner of
Sweet’s ice cream shop in downtown Lake Forest, was accused of molestation and
rape by his own nephew, back in the early 2000s. Now, if that’s not true, then
why is there an entire book about it?
The victim’s mother – Jonathan
Dick’s sister-in-law – became a psychologist, published a book written by
herself and her son, and then fled the state, due to fear and
frustration over never getting a trial. She’s worried that Jonathan Dick has a
lawyer on retainer, for in case he ever gets accused of molesting a child
again.
Mr. Mayor, these crimes – and this
culture of silence – cannot stand. Child rapists don’t deserve fines and community
service and probation; they deserve to be in prison; for a long, long
time.
You all might be saying to
yourselves, “Well, I had nothing to do with this.” … That’s the problem.
If you haven’t heard
about these crimes by now, then you are incompetent, because you at least heard
about Dave Miller, and you decided not to look into whether any other teachers
were hurting kids.
And if you did know about
these crimes, then you are complicit in those crimes, because you said
and did nothing, when you should have, at least, spoken up.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a
list, in my possession, of over one hundred professionals, in this
county, who have either molested children, made awkward advances against
children, covered-up for child-molesting teachers, stood in the way of children
attempting to bring charges against their abusers, or may be using their
profession as a way to get near vulnerable children.
And I’m sure that all of you
would like to do something about this. But there’s only one way to be sure.
That is why - as a
precautionary measure – I have placed each and every one of your nine names,
onto that list… temporarily… as pedophile enablers…. because you
knew about some of these crimes, and yet you did and said nothing.
The only
way to get your names off of that list will be for each of you to…
personally, and individually… do something that will lead to arrests, or
charges being filed, against the people I have named.
Don’t worry about what’s
legally possible right now; don’t worry about Double Jeopardy, or ex post
facto laws. The laws can be changed. We don’t need the law on our side to
fight back against child abuse; all we have to do is provide an open forum through
which abuse claimants can network with each other, free from censorship. That
way, we can compare notes, and figure out which victims of these five people
are still eligible to file charges.
I made a promise, to a mother
in this town, that I would attend these city council meetings every month until
something is done about this problem. So that's what I'll do.
If you continue to
allow me to speak, at these forums, then I’ll tell you which of this county’s
military bases was the scene of a gang-rape of a 12- or 13-year-old girl, back
in 2005. I’ll tell you which former L.F.H.S. teacher covertly hit on a student
while committing academic dishonesty. I’ll tell you which professional football
player had a sexual relationship with an L.F.H.S. student while she was
possibly underage.
And just to prove to you that
I’m not bluffing… those names are Great Lakes Naval Station, Laura Flangel, and
Dan Roethlisberger.
But if you don’t allow
me to speak, then anyone and everyone who attempts to prevent me from
speaking, at these forums, will be added to that list, as an enabler of
child sexual abuse. And then, there won’t be one pair of hands, one
square inch of sidewalk, or one gutter, in this town, that won’t be clogged
with copies of that list, complete with photographs and addresses.
If you nine elected officials
continue to refuse to do anything which will lead to the imprisonment of David
Miller, Cynthia Martin, Charles Ritz, Diane Ross, and Jonathan Dick, then every
sin of this community – no matter how minor – will be exposed, until there
isn’t a single adult in this county who doesn’t know either a racist
police officer, or someone who’s been accused of attempting to molest or
traffic a child.
Since the majority of you
have been derelict in your duty to educate your children about the specifics of
these dangers, I will not rest until every child in this town can name these
five people by heart.
I do not make empty promises.
You are looking at someone who has nothing to lose.
You have twenty-eight days to do
something about this. If no arrests are made by September 4th – the day
before the next city council meeting - then the nine of you will no longer be
welcome in this town.
The clock is ticking. Good
day, gentlemen.
[First Author's Note:
This speech was originally intended to be delivered at the August 7th, 2023 meeting of the Lake Forest City Council.
I decided not to deliver this speech at that meeting, because: 1) this speech would take about ten minutes to deliver, while the Council stipulates a three-minute speaking limit (as does the District 115 Board of Education for its meetings); and 2) when I called the office of the Lake Forest City Council, the operator informed me that the city council "doesn't have control over the schools", and instructed me to call the District 115 Board of Education.
I consider that statement to have been an attempt to deflect responsibility away from the people who run Lake Forest (i.e., the mayor and the eight city council members). In my opinion, this is unacceptable, because there are accused child molesters in Lake Forest whom have nothing to do with the schools (most notably, Jonathan Dick), and are therefore not under the so-called "control" of the District 115 Board of Education.
Therefore, Lake Forest Mayor Stanford R. "Randy" Tack, the eight current members of the Lake Forest City Council, the woman who answers the phones at the office of the Lake Forest City Council, and the seven current members of the District 115 Board of Education, will all be added to my list of corrupt officials and people who turned blind eyes toward child abuse, until further notice.]
[Second Author's Note:
If you would like to watch the speech I delivered to the District 115 Board of Education on August 8th, 2023, please click the link below:
Main body of text written on August 1st, 2023.
Edited and expanded on August 7th through 9th, 2023.
First Author's Note written and added on August 7th, 2023.
Second Author's Note written and added on August 9th, 2023.
Originally published on August 1st, 2023 under the title
"Speech to the Lake Forest City Council on Child-Molesting Teachers (August 7th, 2023)"
Handed-out to Lake Forest residents in print form, but not delivered verbally,
at the August 7th, 2023 meeting of the City Council of Lake Forest, Illinois.
Also handed-out in print form,
and delivered, in part, verbally (in a form modified to suit the circumstances),
at the August 8th, 2023 meeting of the District 115 School Board.
