Robert Lazzell was a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Danville, IL, and the principal of the associated private school.
He began grooming and abusing a fourteen-year-old boy and sexually abused him until he was a senior. The boy told his parents when he was in college. They brought charges.
His mother was a teacher at the school. She said she noticed a change in her son when he was in 8th grade, but attributed it to the prior sexual abuse he and his sister experienced before they were adopted by his current parents. She even checked her son’s phone looking to see if there was some explanation but didn’t find anything because Lazzell had given him a phone to keep separate. When the boy tried to avoid Lazzell, he stalked the child, standing at his locker, driving by his house, stopping at his driveway.
He was sentenced to twelve years. Two other former First Baptist of Danville staff have been convicted of sex crimes against children.
- WCIA: ‘I was 14 years old’: Sexual assault victim shares story after former Danville principal sentenced
- Vermilion County First: Former First Baptist School Principal Robert Lazzell Sentenced to 12 Years for Criminal Sexual Assault of Former Student
Author/Byline: Staff Report