A former teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student at a Buffalo Grove school had his request for a reduced bond denied Thursday in Lake County court.
After hearing Ilan Gibori’s attorney and prosecutors argue Thursday over lower bail, Judge Daniel Shanes opted to keep bail for Gibori at $2 million. That means the Vernon Hills resident would be required to post a $200,000 cash bond in order to be released as he awaits trial on 25 counts of criminal sexual assault.
He has been in custody since late March, when authorities arrested him at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. Police alleged that he assaulted a minor numerous times over the course of several years after he met her in 2017 at Cooper Middle School. He left the school in 2019, and has worked at a tutoring service that is operated by his brother.
After his Texas arrest, he was extradited to Illinois and entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment on May 7.
At Thursday’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Humke told the judge that Gibori was in Texas because he was trying to elude arrest. Text messages on Gibori’s phone indicated, according to the prosecutor, that he was trying to have family members send him money.
Other text messages show that Gibori was still attempting to influence the student into not revealing details of the alleged sexual relationship, Humke said. Those include messages from Gibori in which he told the girl that he would kill himself if she were to reveal their relationship, the prosecutor said.
But Gibori attorney Donna Rotunno told the judge that Gibori had a round-trip ticket to Texas, and did not intend to flee. Gibori, she said, has strong family ties to the area. The request for money was sent to Gibori’s brother, who operates the tutoring business where Gibori works, and the brother owed Gibori money for work, Rotunno said.
After hearing both sides, the judge said he believed the $2 million bail was appropriate given the seriousness of the allegations, and he declined to lower it. Shanes set an Aug. 8 date for further case management.
Case moving along
The case against a Deerfield man accused of killing his wife was back in court Thursday and showing signs of momentum.
In a hearing, the attorney for Gary Kamen said a psychiatric expert retained by the defense was expected to have a final meeting with Kamen in the county jail.
Attorney James Schwarzbach told Judge Shanes that once the final examination is conducted, the expert is expected to complete a report in about 30 days. That should set the stage for a hearing on Schwarzbach’s motion to quash Kamen’s statement to Deerfield police.
Kamen is accused of stabbing his wife, Karyn, 53, to death in September of 2018. Authorities say Kamen bound his wife and sexually assaulted her before killing her in the couple’s home. The motion to quash was filed in 2019, and contends that Deerfield police violated Kamen’s Miranda rights in an interview conducted at the police station.
The judge set a June 28 date for a status update, and a date for a hearing on the motion to quash could be set then.
‘Fast action, teamwork and smart thinking’
The fast action of North Chicago police is being credited with the safe resolution of the alleged kidnapping of a baby.
On May 19, the biological father of a month-old baby broke into the mother’s home and took the child without permission, according to police. Quick detective work by NCPD, though, brought police to an address in Waukegan where the father was taken into custody without incident. The unharmed baby boy was returned to his mother.
The father, Adoniel Haskins Jr, 23, of Bellwood, was charged with residential burglary and child abduction, authorities said.
Chief Lazaro Perez said his officers moved so quickly that they resolved the situation before an Amber Alert could be issued. North Chicago police who responded included officers Ryan Brown, Robert Pounds, Devon Tolver and Donald Florance, Detective Michael Mueller and Sgt. Ben Fapso.
“The fast action, teamwork and smart thinking by our officers helped this situation end quickly and peacefully,” North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. said.
