Frankfort man arrested on child porn charge

A Frankfort man has been arrested on a charge of child pornography possession.

About 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jeremy Coates Jr., 37, of the 20000 block of Thorndale Drive was taken to the Will County jail on three counts of a child pornography charge. He remains in jail as of Thursday evening.

Frankfort Police Chief John Burica said Coates’ arrest was handled by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. He said the only involvement from the Frankfort police was providing transportation.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office did not provide information about Coates’ arrest on Thursday.

On May 29, 2008, Coates was charged with stealing liquor from Walt’s Food Center, 685 N. LaGrange Road in Frankfort, court records show.

He pleaded guilty to the charge several months later and he was given a year of conditional discharge. He was also ordered to pay $290 in fines, $10 for medical services and $90 for restitution, court records show.

Coates’ girlfriend petitioned for a protective order against him on Oct. 26, 2018, according to court records.

Her protective order claimed Coates threatened to kill her, stole her father’s tools and “pawns people’s stuff for drugs,”

“Every day he tells me he will do whatever he can to ruin my life and I will never see my kids again," Coates’ girlfriend said. “He also said you cannot beat a criminal at their own game. He verbally told me he was going to blow up my house.”

Coates’ girlfriend appeared at a court hearing over the petition and withdrew it, court records show. The case was dismissed.