Former CPS teacher sentenced in sexual assault of student

Parents, former students and community members listened as former Chicago Public Schools teacher Jason Gil, 45, was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a student when she was between 13 and 14 years old.

Members of Protect CPS Students, a group that advocates for students affected by abuse, quietly pumped their fists in the air as Judge Anjana Hansen said Gil would have to register as a sex offender for life.

Gil pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual assault, solicitation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

The assaults occurred between 2017 and 2019, and Gil, of the 3000 block of North Kostner Avenue, was between 41 and 42 years old at the time, according to prosecutors.

The former teacher from Waters Elementary School, in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, had previously been denied bond twice in 2019, due to the threat he allegedly posed to the community.

“I’m very disappointed,” Martha Del Real said about the sentence. Two of her children had been Gil’s students at the school. “I’m glad he’s going to serve some time, but nothing can compensate for the damage.”

Defense attorney Barry Sheppard told the judge his client was contrite about what happened.

“I just want to say I’m deeply sorry,” said Gil, whose mother, pastor and relatives were also at the hearing.

“No matter what the outcome was, it wouldn’t have been satisfying,” said Melissa McGowan, a member of Protect CPS Students. She said justice would only have occurred if nothing had happened in the first place.

Members of Protect CPS Students and mothers of former Waters Elementary students expressed relief that Gil would have to register as a sex offender.

“It was my biggest concern, as he’d eventually get out,” said Erica Smith, a member of the CPS advocacy group. She said she didn’t want Gil to be near children again.

Members of the group have followed the case since Gil’s arrest in 2019. They sent two letters to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx asking her to push for a severe sentence.

“Gil’s sentence must hold him to the highest standard of culpability and reflect the severity of his crimes against a child to whom he was a teacher, a mentor and an authority figure,” the first letter read.

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The 2019 and 2021 letters garnered more than 150 and 270 signatures, respectively.

Smith said she wasn’t all that relieved by the sentencing.

“I’m disappointed that the judge offered the minimum,” Smith said. “It was an opportunity to send a message to people in positions of authority in school systems, to educators.”

Eileen Favorite, a representative for Protect CPS Students and mother of a former Waters student, said CPS has not taken into account the ripple effects the alleged abuse has had on the community.

Every single CPS community, she added, has been affected by similar occurrences. She pointed to the Tribune’s 2018 “Betrayed” series, which examined hundreds of cases of alleged sexual assault and abuse of children in Chicago Public Schools.

“It’s a pervasive problem,” Smith said.

adperez@chicagotribune.com