It’s a parent’s nightmare.
Between September 2019 and May 2020 Richard J. Reynolds, a member of the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and a co-director of Canyon Camp, a BSA camp near Stockton, Illinois, sent direct messages via a social media application to the victim. In the messages, Reynolds asked the victim to perform sexual acts, make a photographic record of the acts and share the photographs with him. The victim, who was younger than 18 years old at the time, knew Reynolds through Reynolds’ association with BSA.
Reynolds was charged in Kane County because the victim received the messages at his home in Kane County.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser has announced that Reynolds, 57, has agreed to a sentence of two years of specialized sex offender probation in exchange for a guilty plea to the offense of attempted grooming, Class A misdemeanor.
Judge John A. Barsanti accepted the plea.
“Mr. Reynolds used his position of trust and authority in the Boy Scouts of America to prey on this victim, which is a nightmare for every parent,” stated Assistant State’s Attorney Morgan Wilkinson. “My thanks to this victim’s friends, who advocated on his behalf to make sure Mr. Reynolds is held accountable.”
Terms of specialized sex offender probation include counseling, maintaining daily activity logs, polygraph testing and adhering to a curfew. Reynolds is prohibited from possessing sexually explicit materials, visiting pornographic websites, contacting the victim and having unsupervised contact with any child 17 years old or younger.
In addition, Reynolds must register for 10 years as a sexual offender in accordance with the Illinois Sexual Offender Registration Act.
