Locker room voyeur heads to prison as Will County judge mulls case

A former school janitor who made secret locker room videos of adolescent girls will get a taste of prison life for more than a month while a judge figures out how he will be sentenced.

Will County Judge Dave Carlson issued an order Monday to transfer Ryan Thompson, 28, of Joliet from the Will County jail to the Illinois Department of Corrections so officials from the latter can determine what kind of treatment Thompson will receive for his crime, which is not considered a sex offense under state law.

“I know one thing: You need help,” Carlson said to Thompson at Monday’s court hearing.

Thompson is scheduled to be back at the Will County Courthouse on Nov. 13. Carlson will then continue to consider a motion by his attorney, Nicole Sartori, to sentence Thompson to 30 months’ probation rather than five years in prison, as Carlson previously ordered.

Thompson has been in jail since April 23.

Sartori told Carlson that if he sticks with the five-year sentence, then she would request Thompson receive boot camp instead.

At issue for Carlson was whether the sentence will prevent Thompson from committing his crimes again and allow other people to know he was convicted of a crime that involved children at a school and was sexual in nature. Thompson’s conviction does not require him to register as a sex offender.

“There will be no other information for that matter available for everyone,” Carlson said.

During most of Monday’s hearing, Carlson either sat in silence while thinking about the case or parsed through court records on it.

Carlson said with Thompson being transferred to prison, staff there can evaluate his treatment options and if he will receive sex offender treatment. If not, Carlson said he has “other options” for sentencing.

Carlson said to Thompson that sooner or later, he will be done with his criminal case. He said the one paragraph that “haunts” him in Thompson’s sex offender evaluation is that he is a questionable candidate for outpatient treatment.

“That just keeps jumping out at me,” he said.

Sartori has asked Carlson to give Thompson 30 months’ probation so that he can finish his psychological treatment to fully address his “underlying demons” and move on with his life.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Domagalla said she spoke with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and they said Thompson could be monitored while receiving sex offender counseling while on parole. She said again that the five-year prison sentence was appropriate for Thompson.