A suburban high school student has been sentenced to probation and community service after he placed a racist ad on Craigslist offering to sell a Black student at the school as a “slave.”
According to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Naperville Central High School student was sentenced to two years of community service and 100 hours of community service in connection with the incident, which took place in Nov. 2019.
In the incident, the student took a photograph of the victim while both were at school. He then posted the photo on the sales website Craigslist, with the caption “Slave for sale (Naperville),” along with a racial slur.
Naperville police investigated the incident and identified the suspect, placing him into custody.
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Earlier this year, the student pleaded guilty to two felony counts of committing a hate crime and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
In addition to probation and community service, the teen will also have to undergo counseling, and will be required to submit a DNA sample to the state’s DNA database.
“Hate crimes have no place in a civilized society and will not be tolerated, regardless of the accused’s age,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. “Everyone deserves the right to feel safe and welcome in our communities, and my office will continue to charge and prosecute anyone, regardless of age, who engages in this type of despicable behavior.”
