A Wheaton North High School student is expected to surrender to police Monday on charges that he doctored a bottle of salad dressing in the school cafeteria with his own semen in a practical joke that met with disgust. An arrest warrant has been issued for Marco Raphael G. Castro, 17, of unincorporated DuPage County near Wheaton, for attempted aggravated battery and disorderly conduct. He is expected to be booked as an adult when he surrenders Monday, said Wheaton Deputy Police Chief Thomas E. Meloni.

Hepatitis, HIV
Castro allegedly took a bottle of ranch salad dressing from the juniors' and seniors' cafeteria on Dec. 6, went into a restroom, ejaculated into the bottle and returned it to the condiment cart, police said.
School officials were told about the incident Tuesday after students who had heard about it came forward. The school contacted police and the DuPage County Health Department.

Castro, a senior at the west suburban school, has been "appropriately disciplined," district officials said. The district would not give specifics, citing privacy laws.

The contaminated salad dressing could have been used during the final lunch period Dec. 6 and during all five lunch periods on Dec. 7 before all of the dressing containers were routinely sanitized and refilled, according to a statement from Wheaton Warrenville School District 200.

Supt. Gary T. Catalani said officials have no way of knowing for certain how many children consumed it.

Besides feeling disgusted, some in the school community were left wondering about possible health effects.

Chief on their minds: Hepatitis B or C or HIV.


Risk 'extraordinarily low'
The student was tested Wednesday for a variety of infectious diseases, a District 200 official said. Arrangements were being made for possible further testing, said Melanie Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Even so, "the risk is extraordinarily low that any kind of infectious disease could be transmitted through ingestion of this," Arnold said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concurred.

Wheaton North Principal Jill Bullo sent a letter to parents this week apologizing for the "unusual and disgusting incident."

District officials said Castro admitted to tampering with the salad dressing after extensive questioning. "He allegedly hoped to watch other students use it," the district's statement said.

Some students thought it was just a rumor. Some laughed; others said they were embarrassed and disgusted. One girl vowed never to eat cafeteria food again.

Parents of students who may have eaten the contaminated salad dressing will be told immediately if the student's test results indicate that other students should be tested, the district said.