No Criminal Charges Planned For Teen Linked to LW East Girls' Locker Room Video

A teenage girl the police say was caught with a video taken of an undressed student in a Lincoln-Way East High School girls’ locker room will likely avoid a criminal case, an official said.

“We’re not going to file juvenile charges in the case,” said Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors do plan to refer the teen to a juvenile diversion program, Pelkie said.

Police seized the teen’s phone after a deputy assigned to Lincoln-Way East received an anonymous tip that a “17-year-old female student had taken, or obtained through electronic transmission, cell phone video in the girls swim team locker room,” according to a complaint for a search warrant.

Lincoln-Way East Principal Sharon Michalak “obtained permission to search the contents of (the teen’s) phone,” the complaint said. “After finding a deleted video file in (the teen’s) cell phone, Principal Michalak confirmed that the video was taken in the female locker room and contained images of an unclothed, unidentified female student.”

The teen in the video was later identified as an 18-year-old Lincoln-Way East student, the complaint said.

The 17-year-old “admitted to having a video that originated in the girls aquatic locker room,” police said, but claimed an “unidentified individual had sent it to her.”

Pelkie called the video “short” and said it lasts about a second. He also said the teen claimed it was taken accidentally and that prosecutors would be hard put to prove otherwise.

“I don’t think there’s any indication that our office could prove it was not an accident,” he said.

Pelkie added that prosecutors were continuing to review the matter.

Deputy Chief Rick Ackerson of the Will County Sheriff’s Department said he teen in the recording was actually covered by a towel. He also said the video was very brief.