Monday, May 20, 2013
A man awaiting sentencing on a child pornography conviction he caught for secretly videoing his naked teenage stepdaughter showed up at his former home in Joliet with a police officer to collect his things.
When Timothy Zak went to court May 7 to be sentenced to as many as seven years in prison for secretly videoing his naked teenage stepdaughter, he was allowed another month of freedom before learning his fate. The day after his sentencing was postponed, Zak returned to the scene of the crime, turning up at the Joliet home where he had set up a hidden camera to record his unwitting stepdaughter, according to a petition filed by Zak's wife. "On this date Timothy Zak showed up at my residence with a Joliet police officer who had been given the impression that Timothy and I were having some marital trouble and he wanted to come pick up some of his belongings," Zak's wife said in her petition for a protective order. The wife filled the cop in …
Saturday, May 4, 2013
A Caribbean music record company owner has a drug dog's lack of punctuality to thank for getting him out of a felony pot charge, but he still couldn't get his marijuana back.
Martin Scott was looking at a possible 30-year prison sentence after a police dog found pot in the trunk of his car back in September 2011. But a Cook County judge decided this week that the 41 minutes a state trooper made Scott wait for the dog to show up was too long, and ruled that the marijuana could not be used as evidence against him. Without that evidence, prosecutors decided to drop the case. Scott, 52, said he is the owner of Kingston, Jamaica, based UIM Records. He also said he obtained his marijuana legally in California and asked if he could have it back. He was refused. Scott left the Markham courthouse a happy—and free—man, and strolled away puffing on his electronic cigarette. Not too many other people written about last …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
A Joliet man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to child pornography and unlawful videotaping charges will be sentenced next month.
A former Joliet resident who pleaded guilty to child pornography and unlawful videotaping charges will be sentenced next month. Timothy Zak, 45, appeared in court Wednesday but his attorney, Vincent Cornelius, said he was still waiting on a sex offender evaluation to be completed. Zak was arrested in October after police said they learned he had secretly recorded his teenage stepdaughter getting in and out of the shower. Zak was reportedly living with the teen in a Waterway Court house on the city's far west side when the videos were recorded but resided in Wheaton at the time of his arrest, according to jail records. Police initially secured only two felony charges of unlawfully videotaping a person younger than 18 against Zak, but an …
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The judge for the Hickory Street double murder case doesn't want anyone talking.
The Hickory Street double murder case took a surprising twist this week when one of the defense lawyers complained about stories in Patch and the judge ordered the attorneys involved not to talk to the media. Will County Judge Gerald Kinney also sealed the file for the case against accused killers Adam Landerman, 19, Joshua Miner, 24, Alisa Massaro, 18, and Bethany McKee, also 18. The four were charged with murdering Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22, in Massaro's house on Hickory Street in Joliet. Judge Kinney said he wants both defense attorneys and prosecutors to investigate who allegedly leaked police reports. The judge said he will revisit the issue on March 11. Here's what else was going on in the area's courthouses last week…
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Drew Peterson was in court last week trying to get a new trial, and there were a few other people with cases too.
Drew Peterson was brought into a courtroom packed with reporters and had a hearing to set the date for another hearing to see if he can have a do-over of his murder trial. That was the biggest thing going on at the Will County Courthouse last week, but it wasn't the only thing. Let's look at what else was going on in the week that was:
Thursday, November 1, 2012
A Chicago man's sex chats with someone he thought was a 14-year-old Naperville girl turned out to really be with a cop, so he went to jail, police said.
A Chicago man who thought he was preying on a 14-year-old Naperville girl got the surprise of his life when he found out he'd actually been sex-talking and exposing himself to a cop, police said. Mark Barreto, 34, of 300 N. Canal St. was jailed Wednesday on charges of aggravated child pornography, regular child pornography, indecent solicitation of a child, and grooming. "The Bolingbrook Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI were instrumental in conducting the investigation and securing the arrest," according to a release from the Will County State's Attorney's Office. Barreto allegedly transferred digital images of child pornography over the Internet. His online creepiness also included discussing "acts of …
Friday, October 5, 2012
The FBI is reportedly investigating the existence of a child pornography operation in connection with the arrest of an official from the Troy Democrats who lives with a veteran Joliet reporter.
A Troy Township Democratic official was charged with setting up a sex date with a 15-year-old boy and federal agents searched her house on suspicion she has been producing child pornography videos, police said. Margarita Hernandez, 32, of 6901 Monmouth Drive on Joliet's far west side, was arrested about 3 p.m. Thursday and taken to the Will County jail on a warrant charging her with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Hernandez had sex with a 15-year-old Chicago boy during a prearranged July meeting at her home, police said. Get all the latest Joliet news in your inbox every morning. Sign up for our free daily newsletter. Hernandez shares that home with her boyfriend, 76-year-old veteran weekly newspaperman John Gabriel. Both …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
What is so fascinating about the "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy?
Once the news broke that the Fifty Shades trilogy was being banned from libraries, I was hooked. I got in line to borrow a copy of the first book from a friend. In transit, the paperback made an unplanned detour to another friend. She knocked it out in three days before it finally got to me. The can’t-put-it-down story is addictive. I now understand why it’s being labeled “mommy porn.” It reminds me of an S&M remake of Pretty Woman—business arrangement and all. He’s rich, gorgeous and emotionally unavailable. She’s intelligent and naïve. So who cares how unlikely it is that he can make the 21-year-old virgin orgasm repeatedly with a riding crop. Who cares how unlikely it is to find a 21-year-old virgin. Lady Chatterley had nothing up on E.…
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Nadya Suleman filed bankruptcy and is considering new lows to feed her 14 kids.
Is anyone really surprised that Octomom Nadya Suleman has filed bankruptcy? When the octuplets were born, she vowed to finish her education, which would pay for all her family's needs. That didn't happen — no surprise there. Now, Suleman reportedly claims that she is desperate enough to consider pornography in order to pay her bills. Ordinarily I would say that nothing could be that bad — there must be another way. However with Suleman, I wonder what took her so long. I have no sympathy for her. She didn't accidentally get knocked up. She knowingly, willingly, actively went in and had this done to her. She already had six kids through in vitro fertilization. She was mooching off her parents when she deliberately added an eight-pack to the …
Chirex
1:39 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Way to go Patch reporters and editors! Enough with the daily trolling of court records and selective quoting of salacious details to help the small-minded reader feel superior. more ›