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School Worker Charged With Stalking 9-year-old

STREAMWOOD, Ill. (STMW) -- A 53-year-old lunch and recess supervisor at a northwest suburban elementary school was charged with stalking Friday for initiating "inappropriate communications" with a 9-year-old student.

Peter A. Surges, of East Pine Street in Streamwood, was charged Friday with two counts of stalking a student at Oakhill Elementary School, Streamwood police announced.

Police declined to say whether the alleged incident or incidents occurred at the school or elsewhere.

Surges has worked as a substitute "noon-hour supervisor" for Elgin School District U46 since March 2010, district spokesman Patrick Mogge told the Courier-News. In that position, he helped supervise students for about two hours at lunch and recess at nine different schools, some for as little as one day, he said.

Noon-hour supervisors typically work on teams of three or four, according to Mogge. "There's little to no one-on-one time between students and noon-hour supervisors."

U46 officials were contacted by Streamwood police Wednesday morning, he said. Police then arrested Surges at the school, he said.

Since then, Mogge said, "We have been cooperating fully in participating with police."

A release from Streamwood police said Surges appeared in bond court Friday, and was ordered held on a $300,000 bond.

Streamwood police, the Cook County State's Attorney's office, DCFS and the school district continue to investigate the alleged inappropriate conduct, according to police.

Anyone with information should call police at (630) 736-3700 or the crime tip line at (630) 736-3719.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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