December 17, 2023
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Former DeKalb student teacher accused of sexually abusing student to undergo sex offender evaluation

By Kelsey Rettke
Quinyatta L. Hutchinson, 23 of, DeKalb, appears via Zoom for his Dec. 13, 2023, DeKalb County court hearing in front of Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick. Hutchinson is charged with grooming and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a class 2 felony. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison. He’s accused of having illegal sexual relations with a minor student while employed at DeKalb School District 428′s Huntley Middle School in DeKalb.

Quinyatta L. Hutchinson, 23 of, DeKalb, appears via Zoom for his Dec. 13, 2023, DeKalb County court hearing in front of Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick. Hutchinson is charged with grooming and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a class 2 felony. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison. He’s accused of having illegal sexual relations with a minor student while employed at DeKalb School District 428′s Huntley Middle School in DeKalb. (Shaw Local News Network)

SYCAMORE – A former DeKalb middle school student teacher accused of sexually abusing a student was back in court this week and is expected to undergo a sex offender evaluation.

Quinyatta L. Hutchinson, 23, of DeKalb, is charged with grooming and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a class 2 felony. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison. He’s accused of having illegal sexual relations with a juvenile student while employed at DeKalb School District 428′s Huntley Middle School in DeKalb.

In a Wednesday hearing in front of Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick, Hutchinson appeared via Zoom from the DeKalb County Jail, where he’s been held for eight months. He’s been unable to post the $35,000 needed to be released on his $350,000 bond, according to court records.

Multiple appeals by his lawyers in September and November to grant him release or reduce his bond amount have been denied by Buick.

He’s next scheduled to appear for a status hearing at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 31.

“He told me he’d like to appear in person on that day,” Hutchinson’s lawyer, Geneva Penson, said to Buick Wednesday.

Hutchinson appeared alert and responsive to Buick during the hearing, meant to set Hutchinson up to undergo a sex offender evaluation. The evaluator will conduct the assessment at the jail, court officials said.

Under the Illinois Sex Offender Evaluation and Prevention Treatment Act, those charged with a sex crime are eligible to undergo an evaluation which helps determine possible course of treatment or future placement.

Buick ruled that DeKalb County will pay for Hutchinson’s evaluation, since he does not have a source of income currently.

“You don’t have any money in a bank account do you?” Buick said to Hutchinson. “No ma’am,” he replied.

The DeKalb school board voted May 2 to rescind Hutchinson’s middle school math student teacher contract, according to district documents. Hutchinson’s teacher salary was listed as $44,867. A substitute teacher contract which paid Hutchinson $130 daily also was terminated, effective retroactively April 14.

At the time of his April 18 arrest, Hutchinson also was a Northern Illinois University senior set to graduate in weeks.

The former student teacher is accused of grooming a teenager for months, according to court records. The student told police that the two allegedly exchanged multiple digital messages with each other, including messages with sexual content. The student also alleged to police that Hutchinson asked them to perform a sexual act on him.

A Huntley Middle School employee walked in on Hutchinson and the student April 14 and found them alone in a classroom behind a cabinet, according to court records. The behavior was reported to DeKalb police, and Hutchinson immediately was removed, District 428 officials said.

The student told police that Hutchinson allegedly sexually abused them during the lunch period April 13. The student also told authorities the two often met during school hours and engaged in sexual acts multiple times between March 1 and April 14, court records allege.