Indiana Tutor Charged with Sexual Abuse of Child

An Indiana man has been charged with a second case of sexually abusing a child he was hired to tutor, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

 
Brett Zagorac, 33, of Munster, was charged with Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse in connection with incidents that occurred while he tutored the then seven-year-old child in the child’s home in 2014 and 2015. Zagorac appeared in bond court today at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago where his bond was set at $100,000 and his next court date was set for March 10.

 
According to prosecutors, in August of 2014 the victim’s parent hired Zagorac to tutor the child and the child’s 10-year-old sibling. Zagorac tutored the victim and the sibling once a week through the 2014-2015 school year, occasionally during the summer months, and then resumed weekly sessions when the 2015-2016 school year began. The tutoring sessions took place in the dining room of the victim’s home, while other family members were in the house.

 
In October of 2015, the victim’s parent learned of Zagorac’s arrest for an incident that occurred while he was tutoring another student. The parent then learned from the victim that on multiple occasions Zagorac had reached under the victim’s shirt and rubbed the victim’s lower back and that Zagorac had pulled the victim into his lap while the victim completed homework.

 
Zagorac has a pending case in Cook County for a similar crime that he was charged with in October of 2015. In that case, Zagorac was hired by the victim’s family in November of 2014 to tutor their then nine-year-old victim once a week. During the tutoring sessions, while a parent was in the house, Zagorac would place his hand on the victim’s back and make statements like “good job” while the victim was solving a problem.

 
Approximately one month after hiring Zagorac, the victim’s parents went out and left Zagorac to babysit the victim and the victim’s sibling. After the victim went to bed, Zagorac entered the victim’s bedroom and fondled the victim over the pajamas.

 
Approximately six months later, the victim’s parent became aware of Zagorac’s background and then found out about the fondling incident from the victim. Zagorac’s next court date for this case is April 14 at the Cook County Courthouse in Skokie.

 
Zagorac’s criminal history includes misdemeanor battery convictions in DuPage County (2005), Indiana (2009) and Cook County (2010) for similar crimes.

 
The public is reminded that criminal charging documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.