2014-05-31

(STMW) –A disgruntled former substitute teacher at Highland Park High school has been charged after posting “inappropriate comminications” online after he lost his job, police said.

Steven Habay, 40, faces one felony count of cyber stalking and a misdemeanor count of harassment by electronic device, according to a statement from Highland Park police.

Habay was released from his subsitute teacher position with north suburban Township High School District 113 on Wednesday “following an internal personnel investigation,” according to the statement.

After he lost access rights to the district’s technology, he began posting “disparaging rants related to his release,” police said. Highland Park police subsequently provided an extra presence in the area of the high school.

Habay was arrested Friday afternoon after police tracked down his computer’s IP address to the home where he lives with his parents, in the 1500 block of Lancelot Avenue in Highland Park, according to the statement.

Police said computer evidence and statements by Habay at the time of his arrest linked him to the “inappropriate communications.”

Habay appeared in court in Waukegan Saturday, where he was ordered ordered held on $15,000 bond, police said. He is next scheduled to appear in court on June 9.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Show more