CHICAGO – It took Faith Colson nearly two decades to come to terms with what happened to her.
“I remember what it’s like to be that kid that’s trapped,” Colson said. “And I’m okay now because I got help. But it took me 17 years to get help.”
Colson, who is originally from Schaumburg, IL and now resides in east Texas, was the victim of grooming while a student in high school. It was something that bothered her for years.
And it was during a conversation with a friend where Faith realized she never really reconciled what happened to her.
During a recent interview with NBC 5 Investigates, Faith said she went to therapy and made a delayed outcry to law enforcement in Illinois while in her 30s. Her former teacher was eventually charged, convicted and is now a registered sex offender.
The criminal case against him, Faith says, largely hinged on the fact that prosecutors had to prove Faith was 17 when the sex started.
If she’d been 18, it would not have been a crime in Illinois.
That’s because in Illinois, educators can certainly be fired if they’re found having sex with their students, but it’s not considered a crime if that student is 18 years old or older and consents.
Faith wants to change that.
“We’re not saying categorically that no 18-year-old (in this type of relationship) can consent to anything. We’re saying that’s not an equal power level. And so a teacher is preying upon the students’ vulnerability and the age isn’t what changes that. It’s the enrollment status,” Faith said.
But two bills filed in the Illinois General Assembly over the last two legislative sessions that would’ve addressed this have languished.
House Bills 4241 and 2446 – both filed in the two most recent legislative sessions respectively – would have changed Illinois’ criminal code to make it crime for a teacher to have sex with a student between ages 18 to 22.
HB 4241 passed the House chamber two years ago but later died in the Illinois Senate.
In the most recent session that ended in late May, HB 2446 was transferred to rules committee, where it languished for nearly the entire session.
When asked about why the legislation hasn’t advanced, John Patterson, a spokesman for State Senate President Don Harmon, said there wasn’t an ability to reach an agreement on specific language contained within the legislation.
“There is a recognition of the issue that’s trying to be addressed and the problem has been the drafting – and just not being able to reach an overall agreement,” Patterson told NBC 5 Investigates, adding that they remain hopeful they will be able to find consensus.
An NBC 5 Investigates’ analysis of state laws across the country revealed a patchwork of regulations when it comes how and when teachers can be criminally charged with sexually abusing their students.
In states like Arkansas and Louisiana, it’s a crime for teachers to have sex with students who are as old as 21.
In Alabama, it’s illegal for teachers to have sex with students as old as 19.
In Indiana and Michigan, the language in the statutes focus less on the ages of the students and more on the position of authority the teachers hold over their students that make sexual contact a crime.
In Nebraska, teachers are prohibited from having sex with a student even a year after they graduate.
Faith Colson is no newcomer when it comes to advocating for legislation change in Illinois.
The Illinois law “Faith’s Law” is named after Faith. The law expanded the definition of “grooming” under Illinois’ criminal code and beefs up how districts conduct background checks when it comes to hiring teachers.
And since July of 2023, it adds employment history reviews as part of the hiring and vetting process, requires notices to be provided to parents/guardians and the applicable student when there’s an alleged act of sexual misconduct, and makes other changes to the process schools must follow when handling allegations of sexual misconduct, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
“School is supposed to be a safe place. That didn’t happen here,” said Ana Solano, a graduate of Little Village Lawndale High School on Chicago’s west side.
Solano spoke to NBC 5 Investigates as part of our recent series “Lessons in Betrayal” which uncovered allegations of grooming and teacher misconduct at the Little Village Lawndale High School dating back several years.
As part of our reporting, we interviewed 12 former students who said they either witnessed, were approached or were themselves groomed into sexual relationships with various educators at that high school.
In most cases, the women said they felt their teachers began grooming them while they were still students, but that the sex happened after they turned 18 or in the days, weeks or months after they graduated.
NBC 5 Investigates found since 2017, at least seven teachers or administrators have resigned or been fired from Little Village Lawndale high school amid allegations of misconduct.
Only one – Brian Crowder, the former dean of discipline at the social justice program at Little Village Lawndale High School – was charged with a crime.
Earlier this month, a jury convicted Crowder on four of seven counts – including aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual abuse. In his case, the sexual abuse began when the student was just 15. Prosecutors allege Crowder posed as the students stepfather so that she could get two abortions while still in high school.
NBC 5 Investigative Reporter Bennett Haeberle questioned Crowder outside court: “What would you say to the former student who says you abused her?”
Crowder hid his face under his suit jacket and did not respond.
“I would say it’s harmful whether or not they start the sex before or after graduation because the power dynamic started before graduation,” Colson said. “So I appreciated that your coverage showed this is harmful to students. And we need to do something.”
Five years ago, a task force empaneled by Gov. JB Pritzker issued its report, arguing that “by raising the age of consent to 22, we could close this enforcement gap and allow law enforcement to focus less on the age of the victim and more on the abuse of an individual’s position of trust, authority or supervision in a school setting.”
The report went on to state, “additionally, grooming cases can go unenforced when a teacher begins grooming a student when they student is under age 18 but waits until the student turns 18 to commence sexual activity… “
“I hope that the coverage and, this extended interview is, is another cry like ‘Senators, please call the bill.’ Please give this a chance because we want to address this problem that educators face – that school employees face no criminal consequence if they groom their 17-year old student and then start having sex with them while they’re still students,” Colson said.
In the meantime, Faith says our reporting also highlighted a need for information sharing.
Faith’s Law does require background checks, and as we previously reported, three educators who resigned from CPS and were investigated for misconduct allegations, later got jobs in the suburb district of Elgin.
Elgin said it was unaware of those allegations and since placed them administrative leave while the Chicago Public School inspector general’s investigation was underway.
A large complex investigation conducted by the Chicago Public Schools’ inspector general looking into allegations of teacher on student sexual misconduct took nearly three years to complete.
NBC 5 Investigates has learned it was recently completed. We filed a public records request seeking a copy. Chicago Public Schools asked for an time extension in providing those records.
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July 8, 2025 at 10:56PM
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