Assistant principal of D65’s Washington Elementary charged with sexual abuse of child

The assistant principal of an elementary school in Evanston-Skokie Community Consolidated School District 65, who had previously been accused and cleared of inappropriate behavior, was arrested last week and charged with sexually abusing a child, as first reported by the Evanston RoundTable.

Chicago police on Thursday, Feb. 5, arrested Carlos Mendez, 51, a former principal of Bessie Rhodes school in Skokie who reportedly has been on a leave of absence from Washington Elementary since Oct. 28, 2025. 

Mendez was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child, domestic battery and being a fugitive from justice with an out-of-state warrant.

In a statement provided to the RoundTable, D65 spokesperson Hannah Dillow said the allegations against Mendez do not involve any District 65 students.

“It is the District’s understanding that the allegations in question are unrelated to his professional responsibilities and do not involve any District 65 students. The safety and wellbeing of our community remains our highest priority,” Dillow said. “While these allegations are deeply concerning, this is a personnel matter and we are unable to share additional details at this time.”

In court on Friday, Feb. 6, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office alleged that Mendez and his girlfriend began abusing a 13-year-old family member of the girlfriend in August 2023. The Record is choosing not to identify the girlfriend in an attempt to protect the victims. 

The prosecution’s preliminary evidence alleges that Mendez and the girlfriend, who was charged as a co-defendant, also sexually abused another juvenile — a 13-year-old family member of Mendez’s — during a family vacation in Miami in June 2025. 

The court document says Mendez repeatedly encouraged the family member to repeat what happened in Miami, until the 13-year-old disclosed to a separate adult on Oct. 24, 2025, that the teen was afraid to go to Mendez’s residence. 

The Department of Children and Family Services reportedly was notified of the alleged abuse on Oct. 25. Police interviewed the DCFS case worker on Oct. 28, and Evanston police were notified on Oct. 29, after police learned Mendez was an employee at Washington Elementary, according to court documents. 

D65 notified Washington parents in October 2025 that Mendez would be on leave from his role at the school but did not give parents further details, the RoundTable reported.

In District 65

According to a 2013 profile on Mendez by the Daily Northwestern, he was born in Cuba and came to Chicago via Miami around 2003. 

He taught in Chicago for five years before arriving at Evanston’s Haven Middle School. Mendez became principal of D65’s Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School, a school in Skokie which will close before next school year, in 2013, and then shifted to assistant principal at Washington Elementary.

Mendez was previously assigned to a leave of absence in 2023 when a Washington Elementary School parent accused him of inappropriate behavior and reported him to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services that year. 

D65 and the Illinois State Board of Education, though, never disclosed the specifics of that parent’s allegations. Local and state authorities apparently investigated the allegations, and Mendez was cleared of the accusations.

D65’s then-Chief of Schools Lydia Turner said in an email that she reviewed evidence from the alleged incident and “the video footage confirms that this allegation is false,” Evanston Now reported in 2023.

Mendez reportedly told the D65 board on March 20, 2023, that “unfortunately, based on false information,” an email was sent to the district by a parent who “decided to attack me and accuse me of something that is not true.”

A number of teachers, staff members and PTA representatives expressed support for Mendez during a public board meeting that year, with some describing the allegations as racist slander, the RoundTable reported.

Mendez’s photo and information listing him as the assistant principal at Washington Elementary was still online as of Wednesday morning.

Mendez is being held without bond and is expected to appear in court Feb. 25.

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