Saturday, February 4, 2012

Elmhurst College Student Charged With Hate Crime

Taken From TribLocal By Brian Slodysk Jan. 5th:


Myles G Burton 
1816 S Cardinal Ct
Libertyville, IL
60048-461
An Elmhurst College student charged with a hate crime and accused of carving racial epithets into the window sill of another student’s dorm room remained in jail Thursday and is scheduled to enter a plea Monday in DuPage County Circuit Court.


Myles G. Burton, 21, of Libertyville, was indicted by a grand jury this week, accused of carving comments that included a reference to the Ku Klux Klan, into a ground-level window sill in Stanger Hall, an on-campus dormitory, according to police and court records. Estimated damage to the building is less than $300, court records indicate.


Burton, of the 1800 block of South Cardinal Court, was charged with a felony hate crime and faces two to five years in prison if convicted, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office.


“Like any college campus we’ve had a few instances of defacement,” said Desiree Chen, managing director of public affairs. “This is not at all typical for Elmhurst (College) and that’s why the investigation was launched quickly.”


The carvings were discovered sometime during the first week of December, according to Elmhurst Police and school officials. The incident was reported to the school by the student and Burton, who is being held in DuPage County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, was arrested on Dec. 8, said Det. Ken Lafin of the Elmhurst police.


The last time racially charged graffiti was found at the college, which has an 81 percent Caucasian student body, was sometime last year in a campus bathroom stall, Chen said.


No arrests were made in connection with the incident, she said.Burton was previously charged under Elmhurst village ordinance for underage drinking in public.

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