It took school and police officials just a few minutes to extinguish 16-year-old Corey Walgren’s promising future. All they did was utter two words: child pornography.
Corey, a junior at Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois, was a perfectly normal, social, good-looking 16-year-old. He was an honor roll student with dreams of attending a Big Ten college. He had typical interests for a teenager boy: hockey, fishing, and, yes, girls.
Corey committed suicide in January, just hours after a school resource officer confronted him about an alleged illegal item on his cell phone—a recording of Corey having sex with a female classmate. The girl had informed a dean at the school that she believed Corey had played the recording for his friends (it’s not clear whether he did), which prompted the authorities to summon Corey to the principal’s office. They called his mother and told both of them that Corey was being investigated for possession of child pornography.
Corey left the meeting, headed to a nearby parking garage, and jumped.
That’s all according to a heartbreaking story in The Chicago Tribune, which obtained police records of the case and spoke with Corey’s parents about his death.
“I think they wanted to scare him straight,” Corey’s mother, Maureen Walgren, told the Tribune. “Instead, they scared him to death.”
Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall offered his condolences but declined to criticize the process that resulted in Corey’s death.
“At the time of the incident, the Police Department determined that the school resource officer followed proper policies and procedures,” he told the Tribune. School district officials made similar remarks.
The Tribune story casts some doubt on this assertion. It isn’t entirely clear that the school resource officer had legal cause to question Corey without first asking a parent for permission. But most young people are not well-versed in constitutional law. They don’t understand that talking to a cop isn’t like talking to a regular school official, that it involves forfeiting certain rights.
The video recording was apparently of such poor quality that it was impossible to make out any of its images. But under Illinois’s age of consent laws, one person under the age of 17 can be charged with sexual abuse if he had sexual contact with another person under the age of 17, even if they’re both the same age. Two 16-year-olds in a fully consensual relationship could be charged with abusing each other.
The authorities probably wouldn’t have charged Corey—in most cases, accused teens are able to work out plea deals involving probation and diversion programs. Note, though, that these deals are still incredibly disruptive of young people’s lives and education plans.
Maybe Corey walked out of the meeting terrified that he was about to be branded a sex offender for the rest of his life. Maybe he was worried that he would no longer graduate on time or go to college. Maybe he just didn’t want to face his parents. We’ll never know exactly what Corey was thinking when he decided to end his life.
This is horrific. A young life, a CHILD was lost, all because of a country’s corrupt laws, justice system and politicians. Some of the people responsible for setting up these asinine laws should have jumped off the ledge instead of this teen. These are the same liar politicians and prosecutors that so ‘claim’ to do all of this to protect children, and yet suicides and death has occurred as a result to the accused/convicted. Some sex acts can be horrific but nobody Dies, which is the ultimate worst act possible (causing loss of life). Thus, these laws cause death and loss of life in the name of ‘curbing inappropriate sex acts’. Pathetic, it’s like the people backing these laws have lost the function of part of their brains.
Truly heartbreaking and a glaring reminder that even a 17 year old knows what life with a label would mean for his future. Such a loss….
Articles like this really saddened me and make me angry as well. The puritanical christian nation sex police doing what they do and ending a promising life just because of natural teen behavior. Back in my days when I was a teen, teens were just teens and we didn’t have any of this bullshit we have now. We all had our high school reunion a couple of years ago where lots of us attended and guess what ? Everybody turned out just perfectly fine despite the fact that we all acted like teens are supposed to naturally act. I miss the old days and fear for the future if this madness continues for our young citizens.
It will be a reflection on the United States as this Christian nation continues it’s war on sex and the war on normal human behavior. Here was a kid who was just being a kid and enjoying the start of his life exploring his sexuality and doing what kids do…that is until he was threatened with such a horrible punishment that he choose death.
Those who threatened this now dead young man should be the ones charged with a crime and all those who have supported this lifetime torture of punishment and social shaming which is what this hit list is…nothing more.
I hope the parents sue the school, city and state. I also hope their bullshit rhetoric line “if it saves one child” can be buried along with this poor kid so he is the last one to feel death is preferable to life in America branded as a “sex offender.”
I am so sadden to read that a young teen took his life. to the family my heart go’s to them. scare tactics from the media and the government
introduce fear to the public. I am rso so I know the hardships of life.
the fear of repercussions against my family and my self are very strong concern. I took probation I look at this as being a witch hunt. when the state gives you a state appointed attorney you might as well bend over and kiss your butt good by. there needs to be more education for families. I think that the government needs to stay out of the home and allow parents to teach and discipline their children not the law.
this young teen seen so much on the media that he did not know he had other choices. god bless.