Amelia Finefrock
A convicted sex offender from Elk Grove Village pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sexually abusing or attempting to sexually abusing three young boys – two in suburban parks. Ryan French, 36, in exchange for his guilty pleas was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison and ordered to register for the rest of his life as a sex offender. On Nov. 16, 2016, French was arrested two days after authorities say he sexually assaulted a 9-year-old boy in a Barlett park.
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Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Jacyln Lantz said French, who was in the park with two other children, “took notice” of the boy and arranged a game of hide-and-seek between the three children. The boy attempted to hide alone, but French took him into a stairwell of a nearby building where he touched, kissed and fondled him. Lantz said the boy then ran home crying and told his sister, who called their parents and police.
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Lantz also said there was video surveillance showing French chasing the boy. French pleaded guilty to predatory criminal sexual assault in exchange for a 30-year sentence. French must complete at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
French was also convicted in 2009 for a 2008 aggravated criminal sexual abuse case involving a minor. Prosecutors said French initially received probation but was resentenced to a three-year prison term after he violated his probation. He should not have been in the parks, as a condition of his sentence. Authorities charged French with attempting to sexually molest a 13-year-old boy in an Elk Grove Village park on Nov. 13, 2016, after his arrest in the Bartlett case.
Lantz said French approached a boy kicking a soccer ball and offered to act as goalie. The teen became alarmed when French suggested they cross the street to another park surrounded by woods. The teen then ran away and phoned his father, who arrived and called police.
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In that case in exchange for pleading guilty to attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse – French received a three-year prison sentence. French must serve 50 percent of that sentence before he is eligible for parole. French additionally pleaded guilty to sexually abusing another 9-year-old boy from 2015 to 2016.
Lantz reported the boy’s mother allowed him to baby-sit her son even though she was aware French was a convicted sex offender. In that particular case, in exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, French was sentenced to three years in prison – also served at 50 percent. He will serve that sentence concurrently with the other three-year sentence.
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