A Libertyville man, who is a registered child sex offender, faces a felony charge after being observed on the grounds of Lake Forest Academy last month, authorities said.
Glenn Stephens, 68, of the 1300 block of Appletree Lane, was charged May 16 with presence of registered child sex offender on school grounds, a class 4 felony stemming from an April incident, police said.
On April 19, Lake Forest police arrived near Lake Forest Academy at Route 60 and Academy Drive following a FLOCK camera report that a vehicle connected to a registered child sex offender was located near the school, according to a Lake Forest police statement.
Officers then conducted a traffic stop and saw Stephens, who was convicted in 2008 for indecent solicitation of a child was the driver, according to police. Stephens said he was not knowingly on the school property and had pulled over on Route 60 to read a text message, police said.
He was released at the time, but police investigated the situation using the school’s video surveillance cameras.
“He was observed driving onto school property past several school buildings and subsequently stopped in front of the school fitness center,” according to the police statement.
That was a violation of his registered child sex offender status, according to police.
Academy spokesman Greg Greenwell wrote in an email that 15 additional cameras were installed throughout campus last summer, in addition to a new security system, as part of a partnership with residents in the adjacent Academy Woods housing complex and the Lake Forest police department.
“One feature of this system is a license-plate reader that alerts LFPD to a situation such as what happened in April and leads to a rapid police response,” Greenwell wrote. “A stop was made within minutes of the system being alerted and the system worked the way it was designed.”
Following the review of the video surveillance, an arrest warrant was presented by the Lake County states attorney’s office on May 15, and Stephens was taken into custody the next day.
A states attorney spokeswoman wrote Stephens was later released on bail, and he has a June 20 court date for a preliminary hearing.
Stephens’s attorney did not return messages requesting comment.
Lake Forest police Deputy Chief Rob Copeland said he was not aware of any direct connection between Stephens and Lake Forest Academy.
