Crime & Safety
Sex Offender Arrested for Trespassing in Children’s Play Area
A Des Plaines man was arrested for trespassing and failing to update his address with police after witnesses reported him staring at a child in a restaurant in Elk Grove Village, the Cook County Sheriff's Office stated.
A Des Plaines man was arrested for trespassing in the children’s play area at a restaurant in Elk Grove Village on Dec. 22, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office stated on Dec. 28.
Witnesses said Joseph O’Brien, 36, of Maine Township, was staring at an 11-year-old girl when he was told to leave, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators found he was a registered sex offender, and, instead of residing at his address in Maine Township, O’Brien was staying at a motel near the restaurant. O’Brien was charged with failing to update his address to police and with criminal trespassing.
Find out what's happening in Des Plaineswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The manager of the restaurant, in the 1900 block of E. Higgins Road, called police to report O’Brien loitering in the children’s play area, near a group of mothers and children, police stated. The restaurant manager told police, according to the sheriff’s office, this was not the first time O’Brien was asked to leave, and had been asked to leave several other times.
Illinois’ sex offender registry lists a Joseph Timothy O’Brien residing at an apartment in the 1200 block of S. Lee St. in Des Plaines. O’Brien is listed as a “sexual predator” on Illinois’ sex offender website.
Find out what's happening in Des Plaineswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
A freestanding McDonald’s restaurant is located at 1912 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village; an employee declined to confirm whether or not that location was where O’Brien was arrested.
O’Brien was arrested 24 times since 1995, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and in 2001 he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and bodily harm in Cook County. The sheriff’s office stated O’Brien was also charged in 2006 and 2010 with failing to register as a sex offender.
O’Brien appeared in court on Dec. 24, when his bond was set for $75,000, the sheriff’s office stated, and remains in custody in Cook County Jail. O’Brien is scheduled to appear at Rolling Meadows courthouse on Jan. 18.
In October, Patch assembled an interactive map with addresses of registered sexual predators in Des Plaines.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
