Post by title1parent on Sept 19, 2009 4:33:21 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=322609&src=76
Naperville woman goes to prison for harassing school officials
By Christy Gutowski | Daily Herald 9/19/09
A Naperville woman who "terrorized" school officials through a malicious letter-writing campaign was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison.
Rita K. Mueller lost her bid for probation on disorderly conduct charges in Will County. Afterward, deputy sheriff's took the 50-year-old woman into immediate custody.
She is eligible for parole after half the prison term.
In 2005, prosecutors said, Mueller began writing anonymous letters to Naperville Unit District 203 officials after growing angry with how administrators handled an issue with her daughter.
In an anonymous letter to the B.J. Ward Elementary School principal, Mueller accused a district employee of molesting his daughter. Her letter sparked an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigation. The father eventually was cleared.
Her letter-writing campaign continued for more than one year. Police said she admitted sending a package containing feces to one school official, and what appeared to be a used condom to another.
Another Mueller letter sparked a police investigation when she wrote the Daily Herald, accusing the daughter of a district administrator of being involved in a hit-and-run crash. The girl later also was cleared.
In other correspondence, Mueller wrote that an athletic coach made a promise to swim naked in a school pool if the team performed well at an upcoming meet.
Prosecutors said Mueller also wrote a district social worker, warning her of a premonition in which the woman's children were going to die in a fire. And Mueller sent a sympathy card to another school official regarding the death of her two children when, in fact, both were alive.
At Friday's sentencing, Will Associate Judge Edward Burmila accused Mueller of "terrorizing" school officials through her crimes.
Will State's Attorney James Glasgow agreed.
"Rita Mueller is going to prison because of her reckless disregard for the reputations of both adults and children," Glasgow said in a written statement. "Her false allegations were sinister and depraved. These are the kinds of accusations that can ruin careers and lives."
Mueller, of the 2400 block of Putnam, was convicted in February. She faced up to three years in prison.
Naperville woman goes to prison for harassing school officials
By Christy Gutowski | Daily Herald 9/19/09
A Naperville woman who "terrorized" school officials through a malicious letter-writing campaign was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison.
Rita K. Mueller lost her bid for probation on disorderly conduct charges in Will County. Afterward, deputy sheriff's took the 50-year-old woman into immediate custody.
She is eligible for parole after half the prison term.
In 2005, prosecutors said, Mueller began writing anonymous letters to Naperville Unit District 203 officials after growing angry with how administrators handled an issue with her daughter.
In an anonymous letter to the B.J. Ward Elementary School principal, Mueller accused a district employee of molesting his daughter. Her letter sparked an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigation. The father eventually was cleared.
Her letter-writing campaign continued for more than one year. Police said she admitted sending a package containing feces to one school official, and what appeared to be a used condom to another.
Another Mueller letter sparked a police investigation when she wrote the Daily Herald, accusing the daughter of a district administrator of being involved in a hit-and-run crash. The girl later also was cleared.
In other correspondence, Mueller wrote that an athletic coach made a promise to swim naked in a school pool if the team performed well at an upcoming meet.
Prosecutors said Mueller also wrote a district social worker, warning her of a premonition in which the woman's children were going to die in a fire. And Mueller sent a sympathy card to another school official regarding the death of her two children when, in fact, both were alive.
At Friday's sentencing, Will Associate Judge Edward Burmila accused Mueller of "terrorizing" school officials through her crimes.
Will State's Attorney James Glasgow agreed.
"Rita Mueller is going to prison because of her reckless disregard for the reputations of both adults and children," Glasgow said in a written statement. "Her false allegations were sinister and depraved. These are the kinds of accusations that can ruin careers and lives."
Mueller, of the 2400 block of Putnam, was convicted in February. She faced up to three years in prison.
