Proviso West cafeteria monitor accused of sex with student

HILLSIDE, Ill. (WLS) -- A worker at a west suburban high school is being held on $25,000 bond after allegedly having a sexual encounter with a male student.

Police say they arrested Joi Taylor, a cafeteria monitor at Proviso West High School, after someone told the school liaison officer that Taylor had sex with a male student.

Taylor, 32, has been charged with felony sex assault and indecent solicitation of a child after prosecutors say she performed a sex act on a 16-year-old Proviso West student in the parking lot of a church near the school. Taylor also allegedly engaged in sexually-explicit video chats with the boy.

"She was a figure of authority, a supervising figure, and she breached this authority, and she breached this trust," said Steve Saks, attorney for the alleged victim.

Attorney Steve Saks has been hired by the alleged victim's family and says Taylor also performed a sex act on the boy's older brother, who is also a Proviso West student. No additional charges were filed because that older sibling was 18 at the time.

Saks says Taylor threatened both boys, who are involved in athletics.

"She threatened them that if they told, they would be ineligible or unable to pursue those activities," Saks said.

Police were contacted by Proviso West administrators, who in a statement said: "We are always concerned about the safety of our students, and we will work diligently with the students and their families regarding their safety and in resolving this situation."

"It strikes me as a hiring process that did not fully-look at her qualifications, did not fully-check her background," Saks said.

That attorney is now preparing to file a lawsuit against the school district, claiming a pattern of poor hiring at the school.

Word of the arrest came shortly before school let out on Thursday. Proviso West parents were notified by robocall.

"It was not a surprise, really. You hear it not just here, but you hear it quite a bit. So I guess it wasn't a big shocker," said Sharon Mickles, parent of Proviso West student.

Taylor has been placed on leave while Hillside police and prosecutors carry out their investigation.