A 56-year-old Rockford school teacher and boy scout leader, Richard Reynolds was slapped with child sex charges, the Office of the Kane County State's Attorney reported. Kane County prosecutors noted that Reynolds sent direct messages to a child younger than 17, asking them to perform sex acts, take pictures, and send them to him between September 2019 and March 2021.
Reynolds allegedly knew the victim via his work with the boy scouts. Reynolds taught at St. Peter School and All Saints Academy from 1998 until 2021. He was hired to teach at Holy Family Catholic School in 2021, however, he did not begin teaching at the school. Rockford Register Star reported that Reynolds was placed on administrative leave as soon as the school officials learned of the investigation.
Reynolds was slapped with charges of two felony counts of grooming for trying to coax someone younger than 17 years old to commit a sex act along with a disorderly conduct charge. He was released on a $40,000 bond and is due back in court Monday, February 28. Grooming comes in the category of Class 4 felony and carries a punishment of one to three years in prison and fines of up to $25,000.
The Victim was Younger than 17 Years Old at the Time
"The school learned he was under investigation. Holy Family put him on administrative leave without pay prior to the first day of school," Penny Wiegert, the Diocese of Rockford's director of communications and publications said.
According to reports, the accused was also serving on the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) during the timeline of the allegations against him. He was also co-director of Canyon Camp, which is a scout camp near Stockton.
Attorney Mosser noted that Reynolds' victim was younger than 17 years old at the time he associated with him. Reynolds came in contact with the unnamed victim during his work with the BSA.
In a statement to Register Star Friday afternoon, BSA stated that the 'actions allegedly committed by Richard Reynolds are reprehensible and opposed to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands.'
