Education · Freeburg, IL
A tenth anonymous plaintiff has sued Freeburg Community Consolidated School District 70 and former school board president Herschel Parrish, alleging sexual abuse by educator Robin "Rob" Hawkins between fall 2005 and spring 2008. The complaint alleges district officials allowed Hawkins unsupervised access to students despite receiving reports of misconduct over 25 years and failed to notify law enforcement or child-welfare authorities as required by Illinois law. Nine prior lawsuits filed between 2010 and 2024 resulted in settlements totaling $5.6 million for seven plaintiffs plus one non-filing victim; one case remains pending. Hawkins served the district from 1977 through 2009, rising from teacher to superintendent before dying by suicide in 2009 following a state police investigation.
Crime · Cahokia Heights, IL
A deadly fire on Oct. 19 at One Spa and Fuji Super Spa in Cahokia Heights, Illinois, killed one woman whose remains were recovered two days later; seven others escaped. Quentin Hanks, 36, of St. Louis, was charged in federal court with arson after investigators allege he set the fires following a sexual encounter at One Spa. Court records indicate the property's former owner pleaded guilty in 2014 to federal financial crimes tied to operating a prostitution business at the same site.
Public Safety · St. Clair County
The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board decertified Jerame Simmons Jr., 24, after an administrative law judge found he falsely claimed to have graduated from Dupo Junior/Senior High School and held a valid homeschooling diploma on police job applications submitted to departments in Dupo, Cahokia Heights, Sauget, and Brooklyn in 2024-2025. Simmons Jr., who worked as a firefighter with Prairie du Pont Fire & Rescue in East Carondelet, was hired by the Brooklyn Police Department but employed there only briefly before his certification was revoked following an Aug. 25, 2025 complaint. His parents created and signed a diploma document that regional superintendent Lori Costello testified was unauthorized and effectively fake. The case drew attention due to the Simmons family's prominence in St. Clair County emergency services.
