Crime and Courts

Donald J. Peters, 36, of Cary, who worked at Westfield Community School in Algonquin, pleaded guilty Friday to possession of images of child sex abuse and was sentenced to seven years in prison. (Inset photo provided by Algonquin Police Department)

The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office received a grant to help the office prosecute domestic violence cases.

An Elgin man who is a convicted felon and sex offender is back in McHenry County jail after he was accused of domestic battery while on pretrial release on cocaine and eluding police charges, court records show.

A Harvard man told members during a spiritual gathering that he was sexually abusing a child, a McHenry County prosecutor said in court.

Patrick Anderson, the man who held police in armored vehicles at bay for several hours Thursday at his McHenry home, was ordered by McHenry County judge to be detained while he awaits trial.

A motion to revoke pre-trial release for a Downers Grove man newly charged with burglary and aggravated battery allegedly committed less than three hours after being discharged from the DuPage County Jail on burglary and retail theft charges, prosecutors said.

Will County will pay $2.75 million for the dismissal of a federal lawsuit involving a sheriff’s lieutenant who was not charged over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man who initially took hostages at a bank.

A Will County judge ordered a 15-year-old teen to remain detained as he faces charges accusing him of murder in the fatal shooting of another teen.

A state lawmaker wants the SAFE-T Act repealed after a Will County judge continued the pretrial release of parents charged with the drug-related murder of a child but the law's supporters note the parents have not violated their release conditions.

Nicholas Cammarata pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint stemming from charges filed after he forced a woman into his car. He had also been accused of shooting a gun into a Graylake dental office.

The 7-woman, 5-man jury ruled against Ray Allen Gough’s arguments that he is no longer sexually dangerous because of his “self control” and “self discipline” while being held in custody since 1999.

A 15-year-old boy will be charged as juvenile instead of an adult with the first-degree murder of a 13-year-old boy who was shot twice and left for dead in an alley in Joliet.

Kankakee police arrested a Chebanse man after he allegedly left an infant unattended inside a van.

A McHenry woman accused of being culpable in the 2003 murder of her husband along with her suspected lover will be held on $500,000 bond in Kenosha County jail, a court commissioner ruled Tuesday.

Roxanna Collins, the McHenry woman has been charged with the 2003 murder of a man she was married to for two months, authorities said. Another man charged in the case was having an affair with Collins, officials said.

A Lyft driver from Joliet has been charged with criminal sexual assault of a woman who was a passenger in his vehicle in Lockport.

A Joliet man has been charged with recklessly firing a gun into the ground on May 31 and putting two people in danger.

A Georgia woman has been charged with stealing money by posing as a Will County sheriff’s sergeant and claiming a woman owed money for missing jury duty.

A man who killed a man during a drug deal in Hanover Park has been sentenced to life in prison

One of the charges – unlawful possession of 15-100 grams of meth with intent to deliver – is a Class X felony that carries a possible 30-year prison sentence.

A Homer Glen father and mother face a new charge of first-degree murder that alleged they failed to seek timely medical care for their 2-year-old child who was suffering from a drug overdose that led to their death.

Kankakee County Sheriff’s police arrested Stephen N. Nelson of Momence after he allegedly fired multiple rounds from a firearm in the backyard of his residence in the 11000 block of East Parrish Street Friday.

Wisconsin police has arrested two suspects, one being a McHenry woman, in a nearly 22-year-old cold case murder investigation, officials report.

A Hebron man was sentenced to 4½ years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a child he knew.

A Colorado juvenile has been accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint in downtown Downers Grove last month.

A Rock Falls man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 2021 shooting that injured another man and damaged a Rock Falls home.

Mayor D'Arcy pointed to violent crimes down in Joliet during State of City speech. Police chief elaborates on what police are doing.

The private attorney representing a rural Dixon man charged with the attempted murder of three police officers said he will be pursuing a motion made by a former Ogle County public defender to hold the trial outside the county.

Former McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Marvel, who was accused of arranging drug and prostitution deals with a county-issued phone, pleaded guilty to official misconduct and got probation.

A New Lenox man using a dating service spoke with someone he believed was an adult woman until her purported father claimed she was a minor and demanded money, otherwise he would report him, police said.

A McHenry man in custody for allegedly shooting a gun inside a home near two women faces new weapons charges filed Thursday, court records show.

A man has been charged with stealing a crucifix, candles and a towel on Sunday from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Wilmington.

David Skinner, 62, was found not guilty of all seven counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13 that he faced.

A woman whose child was sexually abused by a former Woodstock man delivered a message to him in McHenry County court Thursday.

A Fox River Grove man, 23, is being held in McHenry County jail on charges that he possessed images and video depicting child sexual abuse, including a video involving a dog.

McHenry County authorities say a man and woman from Ogle County were traveling in a stolen vehicle while in possession of methamphetamine, open alcohol containers, billy club and a toddler in tow.

A Bloomingdale man accused of attempting to rob at gunpoint a West Chicago gas station will remain in jail until at least his next court date, prosecutors said.

John Trumbla, who fulfilled a prison sentence for a 1984 Cook County murder conviction, has been out on parole for a drug conviction since 2023 and was set to be discharged from that sentence in 2026. Arrested in another drug case Friday, he was granted pretrial release Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege that Logan Petre killed his father without justification. Petre’s lawyer argues the late Leo Petre had been drinking, used cocaine and forced Logan to resort to self-defense.

A McHenry woman is accused of striking a 9-year-old child “numerous times” with a leather belt, causing bruises and a limp.

A McHenry woman accused of hiding her car after the hit-and-run that killed 24-year-old Austin Stanek is now also charged with aggravated DUI, according to court records.

An 11-year-old child was flown to a hospital in Maywood for treatment of his injuries when his electric dirt bike collided with a pickup truck in Joliet. 

A jury on Friday found Lawrence Grant, 41, formerly of Chicago, guilty of shooting a woman who was eight months pregnant while she was traveling on Route 83 in early 2022.

An Elgin man identified in court as a Harvard bar owner has been accused of sexual abuse, according to McHenry County court records.

Joliet officers discovered a residence in the 600 block of Grant Avenue had been struck by multiple rounds of gunfire.

A former Bolingbrook music teacher whom school officials alleged referred to himself to students as the “sweetest daddy of all time” has surrendered to police after he was charged with battery of a minor.

A man who authorities said arrived on a Metra train in Crystal Lake with cocaine and a loaded pistol has pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges.

An 80-year-old Crystal Lake man who was accused of operating a drug-trafficking business out of his home has pleaded guilty to just one count of possessing cocaine.

A Woodstock man was sentenced to 16 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting and abusing a chid.

A Joliet man has been charged with harassing a witness in a robbery case by offering money and claiming he had recordings that could incriminate the witness, court records show.