A shocking report published this week claims that three female staff members at a Illinois middle school forced young girls to change in front of a male classmate in their locker room.
On March 17, the Lake County Gazette reported that Deerfield School District 109 administrators forced the girls at Shepard Middle School to share their locker room with a so-called “transgender” student.
The staffers involved were reported as District 109 “Assistant Superintendent for Student Services” Joanna Ford, "Assistant Principal" Cathy Van Treese and “Director for Student Services” Ginger Logemann. Reportedly, the young girls complained in February about a boy using their locker room. The adults in charge escorted the girls to their locker room and “tried to force them to change in front of the boy,” the Gazette said.
One parent, Nicole Georgas, stated that her daughter refused and ran out of the locker room.
The following day, Ford, Van Treese and Logermann “tried to bully them [the female students] into changing in front of the boy,” the Gazette added.
Reportedly, Shepard School Principal Rob Wegley told the young girl who ran out of the locker room that so-called “transgender” students can use facilities that align with their “gender identity” instead of their biological sex.
Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines shared the story on X, putting it in the national spotlight.
Female administrators barricaded girls in a locker room after they expressed their discomfort with undressing in front of a boy. She literally stood guard in front of the door so they couldn't leave.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 17, 2025
This is sexual abuse and exploitation of minors. Ahem, @FBI... pic.twitter.com/BF59rEtiuZ
A video shared by Reduxx showed the concerned mother speaking out about her daughter’s experience.
“The girls just want their privacy and they want their locker room back,” she said. “This is my daughter’s story and the story of many other young girls who have been forced at a difficult age to do something they know, and most adults know, is wrong.”
“Allowing biological males to access girls’ locker rooms sets a dangerous precedent that erodes the very foundation of female privacy and safety,” she added.
Trapping young girls in a room where they are forced to non consensually undress in front of a naked man is literally sexual abuse ????
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 17, 2025
CRIMINAL https://t.co/UXLxaUSmZN
Georgas filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice over this situation.