DNA confirms Chicago woman’s decades-old abuse allegations, but prosecutors say it’s too late to charge former teacher

A Chicago police investigation identified a suspect through DNA evidence, but authorities say constitutional limits prevent prosecutors from pursuing criminal charges.

Chicago woman Nancy Alexander says DNA evidence has strengthened her decades-old allegations that a former Chicago Public Schools teacher sexually abused her and fathered the daughter she gave birth to at 15. But despite what she calls long-awaited biological confirmation, prosecutors say they cannot pursue criminal charges because the legal deadline expired decades ago.

According to FOX 32 Chicago, investigators determined there is a 99.79% probability that Alexander’s daughter and the former teacher’s daughter are half-sisters after the teacher’s adult daughter voluntarily submitted a DNA sample. Alexander says the findings confirm the identity of her daughter’s biological father, but the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office says constitutional limits prevent prosecutors from reviving a case whose statute of limitations had already expired.

The case adds to longstanding concerns about sexual misconduct within Chicago Public Schools, which has faced lawsuits and scrutiny over allegations that students were abused by school employees over several decades.

Alexander told FOX 32 that she attended John Farren Elementary School in the late 1970s, where former teacher Richard Neff was assigned to help her with reading because she had epilepsy. She alleges Neff sexually abused her over several years while she attended John Farren and Parkman elementary schools.

Alexander said she became pregnant at 15 and raised her daughter without publicly identifying the child’s father. She also alleged Neff used racist threats to silence her, convincing her that no one would believe a Black girl living in public housing.

More than four decades later, Alexander reported her allegations to Chicago police after her adult daughter began asking questions about her biological relatives.

Alexander and her daughter also used Ancestry.com in an effort to locate family members, eventually connecting with a woman identified in the report only as “M,” Neff’s adult daughter. M traveled from Montana to Chicago and voluntarily submitted a DNA sample to investigators.

Testing found a 99.79% probability that M and Alexander’s daughter are half-sisters, providing the biological evidence Alexander said she had sought for more than 40 years.

Even with that evidence, prosecutors said they could not move forward. Illinois has since eliminated statutes of limitations for several sexual assault offenses, but FOX 32 reported that constitutional protections prevent those changes from being applied retroactively to cases whose filing deadlines had already passed.

Chicago police classified the investigation as “exceptionally cleared closed,” a designation typically used when investigators identify a suspect and believe sufficient evidence exists to support prosecution, but circumstances beyond law enforcement’s control prevent an arrest or criminal case from moving forward.

Neff, now 79 and living in North Carolina, did not respond to FOX 32’s requests for comment. He has not been charged, and Alexander’s allegations have not been tested in court.

Alexander’s attorney, Jarrett Adams, said the DNA evidence was presented to law enforcement, but the expired statute of limitations remained an insurmountable legal barrier.

After waiting more than 40 years for answers, Alexander told FOX 32 she still believes justice should be possible.

“He should go to jail,” she said.