Authorities said a Johnsburg man who is a lifetime registered sexual offender communicated with a 12-year-old child he met at a Crystal Lake ice rink, a violation of the registry.
John Kaspari, 74, is charged with communication with a child by a registered sex offender, a Class 4 felony, according to a criminal complaint in the McHenry County court.
Kaspari was convicted of possessing images of child sex abuse in 2021 in Cook County and is required to register as a sex offender for his lifetime, according to according to the Illinois State Police registry. As such, he is prohibited from having contact with any children without lawful justification, among other restrictions.
Crystal Lake Police started investigating “after receiving complaints of inappropriate behavior by a man who attends open ice periods at the Crystal Lake Ice House,” according to a news release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
They found that Kaspari had been communicating with a child at the ice rink, obtained his phone number and began texting the child directly between June 5 to June 12, authorities said.
Kaspari made a first court appearance Thursday, where Judge Michael Feetterer agreed with prosecutors that Kaspari poses a threat to children and no conditions could mitigate that danger, denying his pretrial release from county jail.
“What we have here is an active pedophile very likely seeking out his victim, a 12-year-old child,” Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller said.
There is no reason to believe that Kaspari was talking to the child in a public place, and arranging to contact him later, other than that he is an “active pedophile,” the prosecutor said. Miller said Kaspari communicated with the child “for the purpose of grooming and sexual exploitation in the long run. He did not know [the child] at all. His desires led him to an ice rink.”
When police asked Kaspari about communicating with the child, he responded that he knew “‘this is foolish,’” the prosecutor said. Kaspari, “a convicted pedophile on the sex offender registry taking active steps to make contact” with children “shows his risk tolerance is through the roof,” Miller said.
“Minors are omnipresent in society. They are everywhere. ... We could make [conditions] as strict as we want but at the end of the day, where there is a will, there is a way,” Miller said.
Assistant Public Defender Andrew Swinden argued for Kaspari’s release, asserting there are conditions that could mitigate any threat Kaspari could pose.
“There is no allegation of exploitation or escalation” and the state is presenting “scary hypotheticals,” Swinden said. The defense attorney added Kaspari has successfully completed his probation and attends a support group regularly. He also has support from members of the group who want him to return.
Still, Feetterer noted the alleged offenses and said Kaspari “surreptitiously” had contact with the child while there are rules in place that told him “what he can and cannot do.” The judge said that with the world as it is and access to the internet, he “can’t imagine, given the facts of this case, anything short of detention protecting kids.”