Cook County, ILLINOIS

SENTENCED
Sep 12, 2006 - Robert Sperlik Jr., 46, a band teacher at Berwyn School District for 20 years, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual abuse of 11 girls in age from 9 to 14 between 1998 and 2003.

"He had faced a total of 243 charges in 11 cases involving 20 victims." He pleaded guilty to a number of felony charges including aggravated kidnapping, unlawful restraint, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and indecent solicitaiton of a child.

A Principal at the school was acquited of charges of failing to report previous allegations of child abuse in 2001. A civil lawsuit is pending in a federal court against the Principal and 100 officials.

CNN had originally presented the story as "complicated by the strong belief of many parents that the teacher is being falsely accused." Police noted, according to CNN, that they found two letters of reprimand in his personnel file, disciplining him for inappropriate touching.