Braidwood sex offender charged twice in May with unlawful school presence

A child sex offender has been charged in two cases in one month with the felony offense of unlawful presence at a school zone in Braidwood.

On May 9, Jason Escalante, 28, of Braidwood, was charged with being present at Braidwood Elementary School and on a school bus for a field trip on May 5, court records show.

Escalante was arrested and booked into Will County jail on May 5. He was then released on May 13 after he posted 10% of a $5,000 bond set by Judge Donald DeWilkins.

On May 9, Jason Escalante, 28, of Braidwood, was charged with being present at Braidwood Elementary School and on a school bus for a field trip on May 5, court records show.

—  Charge against Jason Escalante

Then on May 24, Escalante was arrested again after an officer reportedly saw him drive through the front parking lot of Reed-Custer Elementary School to drop off his girlfriend’s child, according to a statement from the Braidwood Police Department.

The school was immediately notified of the incident, police said.

Escalante was booked into Will County jail once again. He remains there as of Tuesday.

Escalante has been a certified child sex offender since he pleaded guilty on June 28, 2017 to indecent solicitation of a child. In a statement of facts filed in that case, prosecutors said Escalante met a 15-year-old girl through Facebook when he was 21 and had sex with her when she was 16 at her home.

Escalante was sentenced to a year in prison and credited with 106 days already served, court records show.

Escalante was released from prison on May 22, 2018, but he was charged with failing to register his address with the Braidwood Police Department within three days as required, according to court records.

Escalante pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender on Nov. 15, 2018. He was sentenced to serve 50% of a two-year prison sentence and credited with 141 days served while incarcerated.

Escalante was charged on June 24, 2021 with failure to register as a sex offender and his address with Braidwood police. He pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender and he was sentenced to two years in prison. He was credited with 91 days already served while incarcerated.