February 23

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow is launching a new pet program for the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center that will offer furry friendship and canine comfort to children who have suffered the trauma of sexual abuse.

State’s Attorney Glasgow will unveil the new Paws 4 Kids program at an Open House from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 29 at the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center, 57 N. Ottawa St., Suite 506, in downtown Joliet. The State’s Attorney also will introduce Jackson, a four-legged friend who will be the program’s first Paws Pal.

Guests who visit the Open House will have the opportunity to meet Jackson and tour the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center to learn more about the important role it plays in the investigation of child sexual abuse cases.

Glasgow established the Children’s Advocacy Center in 1995 to improve the way these highly sensitive investigations are conducted. Children come to the center to give statements to caring and sensitive forensic interviewers when there are allegations of sexual or severe physical abuse. The center’s goal is to minimize the trauma for children while the interviewer obtains recorded statements that can be used to prosecute and convict their abusers. The center’s staff also coordinates important medical and counseling services for victims and their families.  

“The children who require the center’s services are struggling through the most upsetting and painful ordeal in their young lives,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “A Paws Pal like Jackson can help ease the stress and provide some much-needed comfort to these vulnerable young victims as well as their family members.”

Jackson is a 3-year-old, 63-pound Labrador Retriever that is licensed through Therapy Dog International. He will be available to welcome children upon their arrival at the Children’s Advocacy Center, and he will keep them company while preparations are made for the interview. Jackson will not be in the room when children are interviewed, but he will stay and play with siblings and even their parents or caregivers while they wait for an interview to conclude.  Jackson also will be available to comfort children after interviews. 

Jackson’s owner and handler is Cheri Johnson, who has worked for Will County State’s Attorney Glasgow for the past five years. Johnson and her husband, Kurt Johnson, raise and train puppies for the Leader Dogs for the Blind organization. Jackson is their personal pet and has spent a great deal of time with the Johnsons bringing joy and comfort to patients in local hospitals andnursing homes.  

Cheri Johnson, who is the State’s Attorney’s Executive Assistant, is making Jackson available at no cost to taxpayers for all the petting, playing and hugging a child can squeeze in before and after a victim-senstive interview. Studies have shown that dogs and other pets can put people at ease during emotionally stressful situations.

The State’s Attorney speaks from experience about the happiness and comfort dogs can bring to people’s lives. He and his family are the happy owners of two dogs, Hobbs, a Great Dane, and Xena, a Collie. With their sons playing baseball, the Glasgows have named their Great Dane Hobbs, after Roy Hobbs in the movie, “The Natural.”

“Our new PAWS 4 Kids program celebrates the life-affirming bond between people and their pets,” he said. “My own dogs bring tremendous joy to my family. I know in my heart that Jackson and other therapy dogs that will join PAWS 4 Kids will start the healing process for the victims of child abuse.” 

The Paws 4 Kids program is modeled after similarly successful programs across the country. Pet therapy programs at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet and Edward Hospital in Naperville were among those examined.

For information on Paws 4 Kids or on attending the Feb. 29 Open House, call the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center at (815) 774-4565.

February 23

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow is partnering with Heartland Blood Centers and a local mother whose daughter successfully battled cancer to host a community blood drive in downtown Joliet at the end of March.

State’s Attorney Glasgow and Joliet resident Jennifer Babec are working together to bring Heartland Blood Center’s mobile coach to the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office at 121 N. Chicago St. from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on March 29.

The mobile coach will be located in the State’s Attorney’s Office parking lot directly across the street from the historic Rialto Square Theatre.

The State’s Attorney is encouraging anyone who works in or plans to visit downtown Joliet to take roughly 30 minutes to donate blood on March 29. Appointments can be made by calling Jennifer Babec at (815) 325-4282 or by visiting Heartland Blood Centers online at www.heartlandbc.org. Walk-in donors also will be welcomed. Every donor will receive a free pair of cotton, flannel-style lounge pants from Heartland Blood Centers.

“The State’s Attorney’s Office is an excellent location for a weekday blood drive because it’s in the heart of downtown Joliet,” Glasgow said. “Hundreds of people who work in or visit various government facilities, private offices and local restaurants walk by the office each day. I encourage employers to provide a little flexibility around breaks and during lunch to let people make what could be a lifesaving donation.”

The State’s Attorney is pleased to be coordinating this drive with Jennifer Babec, who is the top volunteer blood drive coordinator for Heartland Blood Centers. Jennifer, who lives in Joliet, has been coordinating drives with Heartland since 2008, shortly after her 5-year-old daughter, Taylor, was diagnosed with lymphoma. During Taylor’s three-year recovery, she required intensive chemotherapy treatments and 22 blood transfusions that would revive both her physical energy and her spirits. 

Taylor is now 10-years-old, and her cancer thankfully is in remission. Jennifer, however, has continued to coordinate blood drives so there is an ample supply for other children who need life-saving transfusions.  More than 800 donations have been collected during her local blood drives over the years. Heartland’s goal is to receive a minimum of 62 donations during the downtown Joliet blood drive.

“Jennifer and her family struggled through tough times during Taylor’s diagnosis and recovery,” Glasgow said. “This remarkable mother noticed how her daughter would bloom like a flower every time she received a blood transfusion. She is giving back to our community today by coordinating blood drives so that other children who are struggling through cancer treatments also have a chance to bloom.”

Heartland Blood Centers is an independent not-for-profit blood center serving 38 hospitals in a 12-county area including Kane, McHenry, DeKalb, Will, DuPage, Cook, Grundy, Kendall, Lee, Ogle and LaSalle counties in Illinois, and Lake county in Indiana.  Heartland is the sole provider of blood and blood products for Silver Cross Hospital and Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center.

Heartland operates under a volunteer donor system and works toward collecting more than 172,000 units of blood annually with a commitment of meeting local blood needs. Participating in a drive with Heartland means that 100 percent of the blood donated is returned to the communities it serves. 

For information on the March 29 blood drive or to schedule an appointment, please call (815) 325-4282 or visit Heartland Blood Centers at www.heartlandbc.org.

February 9

The following statement may be attributed to Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow:“Frank Stewart was a dedicated public servant who vigorously represented the citizens of his Will County Board district with passion and grace. He was a true gentleman who had an abiding faith in the political process and an unwavering respect for his colleagues, regardless of their political affiliations. We have all lost a good friend.”

January 20

Cecil Conner

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced today that a Steger man whose drunken driving caused a collision that killed a 5-year-old boy has been sentenced to 9-1/2 years in prison.

Circuit Judge Edward Burmila sentenced Cecil Conner, 24, on Friday afternoon for causing the crash that killed Michael Langford Jr, who was sleeping in the backseat of his car. A jury found Conner guilty of two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in February 2011.

“Judge Burmila handed down an appropriate sentence for a drunken driver whose actions claimed the life of an innocent child,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “Cecil Conner knowingly sped through a residential neighborhood while he was highly intoxicated. He alone is responsible for losing control of his vehicle, crashing through a fence, striking a tree and causing Michael’s death.”

Conner was driving between 66-73 mph when his Chevy Cavalier crossed the center line, drove across several lawns, ripped down a fence and collided with a large pine tree at about 3:15 a.m. on May 10 on 34th Street in Steger. His blood-alcohol level was later tested at .180, more than twice the legal limit. 

Michael suffered a broken neck and severe head injuries in the wreck. He was unresponsive at the scene and pronounced dead at a hospital later that morning. Michael was the son of Conner’s girlfriend.

Conner had been drinking at a friend’s home the prior evening and into the morning of the crash. His girlfriend, Kathie LaFond, brought her son with her to pick Conner up late that night. LaFond, however, was pulled over by a Chicago Heights police officer on the way home while Conner was in the passenger seat. She was arrested for driving without a valid license; the car was turned over to Conner at the traffic stop.

At trial, defense attorneys failed to convince jurors that the police officer was solely responsible for the fatal crash. Assistant State’s Attorneys Debbie Mills and Alyson Wozniak noted at trial that LaFond and the defendant failed to tell the officer Conner was drunk. They argued the defendant chose to drive for 28 minutes after the traffic stop and then chose to speed through the streets before causing the one-car wreck that claimed Michael’s life.

State’s Attorney Glasgow praised prosecutors Mills and Wozniak for their first-rate trial work. Wozniak is an assistant state’s attorney in the office’s felony division; Mills is the chief of the office’s Misdemeanor Division, an expert in the area of DUI prosecutions and a member of the state’s attorney’s Special Prosecutions Team.

January 13

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a New Lenox man who is a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings was sentenced to 26 years in prison on a narcotics charge earlier this week.

Ruben Gutierrez, 48, a former Inca of the South and Southwest Sides for the Latin Kings, pleaded guilty in June 2011 to possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) with intent to deliver. He was arrested in March of 2010 when New Lenox Police served a search warrant on his house and confiscated 31 grams of cocaine.

Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes sentenced Gutierrez on Monday after Assistant State’s Attorney Tricia McKenna presented extensive testimony on his long and violent background with the Latin Kings. McKenna tracked down a gang expert from the Kankakee Police Department who testified in detail about Gutierrez’s efforts in 2000 to locate and punish fellow gang members who stole a kilo of cocaine from him.

Kankakee Lt. Patrick Kane testified that Gutierrez and 20 other Latin Kings hunted down that gang member, Marty Patnaude, and shot him in the head. Patnaude survived, and Gutierrez was eventually convicted of home invasion in Kankakee County.  Before his conviction, however, several members of the Kankakee Chapter of the Latin Kings blew up the Patnaude’s house. Patuaude was not inside but his parents were killed in the blast. Gutierrez, however, was never charged in Kankakee in connection with the bombing.

“Judge Policandriotes handed down a tough sentence that should put every drug dealer with a history of gang violence on notice,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “Ruben Gutierrez’s past came back to haunt him in court because Assistant State’s Attorney Tricia McKenna went the extra mile at sentencing. Now this drug dealer can no longer terrorize our community.”