A 74-year-old man who is a registered sexual predator and attends public sessions at an ice rink in Crystal Lake was arrested after he allegedly met a child at the rink and began communicating with him.
John Kaspari, 74, of Johnsburg, was charged with one count of communicating with a child by a registered sexual offender, a Class 4 felony.
The Crystal Lake Police Department began an investigation after receiving complaints of inappropriate behavior by a man who attends open ice periods at Crystal Lake Ice House, 320 Prairie Street in Crystal Lake.
The man, later identified as Kaspari, had met and interacted with a child at the ice rink, prosecutors said.
Investigators learned Kaspari had obtained the boy’s phone number and began texting the child directly from June 5 to June 12, prosecutors said.
Kaspari is a registered sex offender and is barred from communicating with any juvenile without lawful justification.
He was previously convicted of possession of child pornography in 2021 in Cook County.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said at the time of his arrest that Kaspari, who was living in Des Plaines, arranged to meet with a person whom he thought was a 13-year-old boy.
Kaspari was communicating with a teenager and sending inappropriate messages to him, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s officials said a sheriff investigator took over conversations with Kaspari, who sent sexually explicit messages, suggested the two meet and agreed not to tell the boy’s mother.
Kaspari was taken into custody after meeting up in Franklin Park on April 13, 2021, when he arrived at the arranged location. Officers recovered multiple images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material on his phone.
After Kaspari’s latest arrest in Crystal Lake, he was transported to the McHenry County Jail and appeared for an Initial Appearance Court hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors argued that Kaspari poses a real and present threat to children and that no conditions of release could mitigate it.
Prosecutors said in court that Kaspari admitted it was foolish of him to speak to the child, who was under the age of 13, from the ice rink.
McHenry County Judge Michael Feetterer granted a petition to detain filed by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office during the hearing.
“This is a active pedophile who is attempting to make a connection with a child for the purposes of grooming them and for the purposes of sexual exploitation in the long run,” the prosecutor told the judge.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said she commends the Crystal Lake Police Department for its “swift investigation and ongoing commitment to protecting children.”
“Protecting children from predators who seek to exploit or prey upon them remains one of our highest priorities,” Freese said.
“The Court’s decision to detain this defendant reflects the serious nature of these allegations and our persistent commitment to keeping our community safe,” she added.
Kaspari is scheduled to appear in court again on June 23.
