October 17

JOLIET – Volunteers from ITW Deltar Fasteners in Frankfort and United Way of Will County recently dipped brushes into buckets to put a fresh coat of paint on the walls of what will be the new offices for the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.

ITW and United Way volunteers spent two days painting the interior walls of the building at 304 N. Scott Street. The building will become the new home for the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center when the staff moves in at the end of November. The Center’s current building will be demolished to make way for the new Will County Courthouse.

“This tremendous gesture by ITW and its volunteer workers put the Children’s Advocacy Center a major step closer to occupying a new building where the staff can pursue its mission of bringing hope, healing, and justice to sexually abused children,” said Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who chairs the Center’s Board of Directors. “Community partnerships with socially responsible corporations like ITW play an important role in enabling the Children’s Advocacy Center to conduct its important work on behalf of vulnerable children.”

The Will County Children’s Advocacy Center is funded in part by United Way of Will County. ITW decided to organize teams of volunteer painters after the Children’s Advocacy Center’s staff visited the company last month to encourage employees to continue their already generous participation in the annual United Way Campaign.

“It was great to be able to support and to help out locally. Community involvement is one of our core values, and it was a pleasure to serve the Children’s Advocacy Center,” said Joel R. Lee ITW United Way Division Chair.

State’s Attorney Glasgow talks with Joel Lee of ITW Deltar Fasteners during a break from painting.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. is a global Fortune 200 diversified manufacturing company that delivers specialized expertise, innovative solutions and value-added products to meet critical customer needs in a variety of industries. ITW Deltar Fasteners serves all the major Automotive OEMs and their tier suppliers with plastic fasteners.

Will County Executive Larry Walsh and the Will County Board agreed to purchase the building, which had housed the Will County Center for Community Concerns, and invited the Children’s Advocacy Center use the space. Two Will County Board members, Mike Fricilone and Herb Brooks, sit on the Center’s Board of Directors.

“By taking these important steps to ensure the Children’s Advocacy Center has a home, Larry Walsh and the County Board have displayed tremendous leadership and a deep commitment to protecting abused children,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow.

The Children’s Advocacy Center will occupy the building for the next several years while it embarks on a development campaign to raise funds to purchase or build a permanent facility. The Center’s goal is to develop a site that has a residential look that will be welcoming to sexually abused children and their families.

State’s Attorney Glasgow established the not-for-profit Will County Children’s Advocacy Center in 1995 to improve investigations of child sexual abuse cases. The center’s professionally trained and compassionate staff performs child-sensitive interviews when there are allegations of sexual or severe physical abuse. Children’s recorded statements have been used in the successful prosecution of thousands of predators. The caring team also has provided counseling, advocacy services, and medical referrals for nearly 10,000 sexually and severely abused children and their family members.

August 24

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow thanked the Will County Board for its unanimous vote to increase funding for the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center so it can expand the services it provides to sexually abused children.

The funding comes from a $425,000 federal grant the Children’s Advocacy Center received from the Department of Justice. The County Board’s unanimous vote will enable the Children’s Advocacy Center to draw the first $151,000 from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Grant immediately from the FY2017 budget.

“These additional funds will allow the Children’s Advocacy Center to expand critical services for sexually abused children throughout Will County who turn to us for hope, healing, justice,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow, who founded the Center in 1995 and chairs its Board of Directors. “I would like to thank the Board for its approval and continuous support of our mission.”

The Children’s Advocacy Center will use the grant to hire an additional forensic interviewer to interview children who have been sexually abused. The Center also will hire two full-time advocates to provide support and services to vulnerable victims and their families, as well as three mental health counselors to provide group and individual therapy to victims and non-offending family members. In addition, the funding will enable the Center to hire a multidisciplinary team coordinator to coordinate victim services. The majority of the new employees hired are bilingual, which is a focus of the grant.

The need for these expanded services is driven by a dramatic increase in the number of sexually abused children who seek the center’s assistance. In 2016, the number of new children served by the center jumped to 426 – a 28-percent increase from the prior year. The center is on track to provide services to 460 new children by the end of 2017.

“The Children’s Advocacy Center’s work is essential, and we were more than happy to approve further funds for its good work,” said Will County Board minority leader Herb Brooks (D-Joliet). “As a member on the Children’s Advocacy Center’s board, I know that every penny is well spent on programs for children that need help.”

Both Brooks and Will County Board Member Mike Fricilone (R-Homer Glen) sit on the Children’s Advocacy Center’s board.

“Children, especially those who have experienced some sort of trauma, sometimes don’t know how to express what they need and seek help,” said Fricilone. “That’s why the Center’s work is so important. It gives a voice to those who need it most.”

State’s Attorney Glasgow established the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center in 1995 to improve the investigation of child sexual abuse cases. The center’s professionally trained and compassionate staff performs child-sensitive interviews when there are allegations of sexual or severe physical abuse.

Children’s recorded statements have been used in the successful prosecution of thousands of predators. The caring team also has provided counseling, advocacy services, and medical referrals for nearly 10,000 sexually and severely abused children and their family members.

The Will County Children’s Advocacy Center is a United Way of Will County partner agency.

August 15

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow was pleased recently to accept a $3,000 contribution on behalf of the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center from AT&T Illinois.

AT&T made an Advocate level contribution through a new Corporate Partnership Program established earlier this year by the not-for-profit Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.

State’s Attorney Glasgow, who established the Children’s Advocacy Center in 1995 and chairs its Board of Directors, thanked AT&T for a generous donation that is helping to launch the program. Jeff Adducci, AT&T Illinois’ Director of External Affairs, visited the center recently to make the contribution.

“Donations from corporate sponsors like AT&T Illinois enable the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center to continue its critical work of protecting abused children and making our communities safer,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “Through this program we are forging important partnerships with corporations that have joined us in our mission to provide hope, healing, and justice for abused children.”

Jeff Adducci said: “At AT&T, we consistently look to make a difference for people in the communities where our customers and employees live and work. The Will County Children’s Advocacy Center provides help and healing for children in Will County. We respect and admire the service its people provide, and we are proud to support their critical mission.”

State’s Attorney Glasgow established the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center as a 501-(c)-3 charitable organization in 1995 to vastly improve investigations into cases involving the sexual abuse of children. Today, when children make outcries of sexual abuse, they are brought to the center, where trained and compassionate forensic interviewers obtain accurate statements in a neutral, non-suggestive and child-friendly environment. Interviews recorded at the Children’s Advocacy Center have been used in the successful prosecution of thousands of child predators over the last two decades.

In addition, the center’s experienced staff provides children and families with counseling, medical exams, legal advocacy, community resource referrals and other social services to enable the healing process to begin.

For information on the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center or its Corporate Partnership Program, contact Executive Director Lisa Morel Las at (815) 774-4565 or email lmlas@willcountyillinois.com. You can also visit on line at www.willcountycac.org.

June 12

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announces that a Joliet man who choked his mother to death and dumped her body in the Des Plaines River near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam pleaded guilty Monday just as jury selection for his trial was scheduled to begin.

Shane Smith, 36, of the 1600 block of Black Road, pleaded guilty to one count of first degree murder for killing Joan Smith at her house during an argument on Oct. 13, 2013. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced by Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes on Aug. 22. As part of the blind plea, prosecutors have agreed not to recommend a sentence longer than 35 years in prison.

Smith, who lived with his mother, had been drinking and fishing near the Brandon Road Lock with his wife on the day of the argument. Joan Smith would not allow her son’s wife to live in her house because of frequent arguments between the couple.

The dispute with his mother began when Shane Smith attempted to sneak his wife into the house that evening. Joan Smith told her to leave. Shane Smith left as well, but her returned alone later that evening and began arguing with his mother. During that dispute, he choked his mother to death, placed her body in a garbage bag and drove her to the Brandon Road Lock. He dropped her body in the river where it was discovered downstream several days later.

Shane Smith, who also discarded the jeans he had been wearing during the murder in the river, told his wife what he had done. She made a statement to Joliet police, who recovered the jeans. Investigators also matched DNA from the victim with hair that was found on her driveway near the wheel of her vehicle.

State’s Attorney Glasgow thanked Joliet police for their excellent investigation as well as his prosecutors, Mark Fleszewski, Katheryn Tinich, and Tom Slazyk, who had prepared a strong case for trial.

May 23

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow was pleased recently to accept a $10,000 contribution on behalf of the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center from the Leopardo Charitable Foundation.

The Leopardo Charitable Foundation (LCF) was established by Leopardo Companies, Inc., one of the nation’s largest and most respected construction firms. Leopardo is the first company to make a contribution through a new Corporate Partnership Program established by the not-for-profit Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.

State’s Attorney Glasgow, who established the Children’s Advocacy Center in 1995 and chairs its Board of Directors, thanked Leopardo for helping to launch the Corporate Partnership Program with such a generous donation. Leopardo Senior Vice President Leigh McMillen visited the center recently to make the contribution.

“Leopardo’s significant donation to the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center embodies the very definition of corporate responsibility and community service,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “This important contribution will enable the Center to continue its critical mission of providing hope, healing, and justice for abused children.”

Every year, LCF assists dozens of charities and not-for-profit agencies that promote education, health, and technology and support the well-being of citizens in communities that the construction firm serves.

In Will County, Leopardo last year broke ground on a new 85,000-square-foot public safety complex for the Will County Sheriff’s Department at U.S. 52 and Laraway Road. The two-story complex will house the Sheriff’s Department’s offices, a 911 dispatch center to serve more than 30 communities, detention facilities, and facilities for evidence processing, property storage and vehicle processing. Leopardo is serving as construction manager and is providing preconstruction and construction services in collaboration with architect DLR Group. The project is on track for completion this year.

“Leopardo through its charitable foundation is proud to support the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center and the important services it provides,” said Leopardo Senior Vice President Leigh McMillen. “In addition to being dedicated to the core values of kindness, goodwill, compassion and benevolence, Leopardo and its charitable foundation seek to support the communities we build in. We are proud to give back to the County through the Children’s Advocacy Center and its Corporate Partnership Program. ”

State’s Attorney Glasgow established the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center as a 501-(c)-3 charitable organization in 1995 to vastly improve investigations into cases involving the sexual abuse of children. Today, when children make outcries of sexual abuse, they are brought to the center, where trained and compassionate forensic interviewers obtain accurate statements in a neutral, non-suggestive and child-friendly environment. Interviews recorded at the Children’s Advocacy Center have been used in the successful prosecution of thousands of child predators over the last two decades.

In addition, the center’s experienced staff provides children and families with counseling, medical exams, legal advocacy, community resource referrals and other social services to enable the healing process to begin.

For information on the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center or its Corporate Partnership Program, contact Executive Director Lisa Morel Las at (815) 774-4565 or email lmlas@willcountyillinois.com.