The Illinois mother shared the story of her son Andrew Koscik who was groomed by Steffen Balegno, a former teacher at Morris High School in Grundy County, back in 2010. She then played a video clip explaining what happened.
Peterson recounted overhearing her then-15-year-old son and Balegno's phone conversation in October 2010. She started going through the computer immediately, finding more than 6,000 phone messages dating back from May of that year. Peterson printed out the text messages and talked to the principal of Morris High the next day.
The principal had separate meetings with Koscik and Balegno, who both denied any wrongdoing or bad text messages. Peterson was then encouraged to reach out to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), which eventually launched an investigation.
Her subpoena to obtain Balegno's mobile phone was denied in the Grundy County state attorney's office, prompting her to find somebody able to recover deleted messages from her son's cell phone. A friend referred a Secret Service agent well-versed in the task, and the agent managed to recover about five months' worth of deleted messages in just three days. (Related: GROOMER teacher tells 10-year-old to delete private email communications about young student’s "gender identity.")
Subsequent meetings with the principal allowed Peterson to learn about Balegno's plan to make an explicit video with her son. She also learned that the teacher offered Koscik money for oral sex.
Groomers are grooming entire schools of kids
Balegno was later convicted of indecent solicitation of a minor and unlawful grooming in January 2014. He was sentenced to 60 days of jail time and was later ordered to register as a sex offender.
The teacher's conviction became possible through the insistence of Peterson, who told Ardis that she got upset with the two assistant state attorneys handling the case. The two claimed there wasn't enough evidence to make a strong case against Balegno. She even personally confronted the Grundy County state attorney, warning that every major news station would be in the state attorney's office if Balegno was not arrested within a week.
"I was going toe to toe with this guy. He just wanted me to go away," the mother said. "I threatened to take it to the actual Illinois State Attorney's Office because they aren't doing anything."
Thankfully, Morris High stood behind Koscik and Peterson. The school principal, himself a former guidance counselor, interviewed Balegno in the presence of the school superintendent and the teacher's union representative. The groomer admitted to all the allegations.
According to Peterson, unlawful grooming happens when "somebody is trying to get somebody to trust them to then do something nefarious to that person." Unlawful groomers like Balegno groom their victims and the entire community, she added.
The Illinois mother and anti-grooming activist also stressed that parents should keep fighting back and continue fighting for their kids as hard as they can. Seventy-nine percent of children who had parents fighting for them eventually end up becoming highly productive members of society. Peterson concluded: "If you don't fight for your children, they will never fight for themselves and they will not produce in the society."
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Watch the Aug. 9 episode of "The Dr. Ardis Show" with Michelle Peterson below. Catch "The Dr. Ardis Show" every Wednesday at 10-11 a.m. on Brighteon.TV.
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