A 71-year-old man is being held on $1 million bond after he was charged with the criminal sexual assault of his teenage stepdaughter in a home they shared with the girl’s mother, who was working in a COVID-19 clinic.
Cook County Jail


Jahquez Scott, 21, was found in a home on the city’s West Side on Saturday, days after the FBI announced a $2,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

Sheriff Tom Dart informed Cook County court and elected officials in a letter Thursday that his office has “no additional equipment to assign” after the electronic monitoring program saw a 30% surge in recent months.
Jahquez Scott allegedly escaped using another detainee’s identity

Jahquez Scott, 21, should be considered “armed and dangerous” after he allegedly used the personal information of another detainee who was set to be released from the jail, according to the FBI.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says an expected summer spike in the jail’s detainee population could “upend the delicately balanced housing arrangements currently in place.”

The number of detainees within the Cook County Jail is reaching historic lows during the COVID-19 pandemic. But as that number drops, the number of those being held on electronic monitoring devices has steadily risen.

A look at what’s being done at Cook County Jail to keep people safe and the pandemic’s impact on the criminal justice system. Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx join us.

A federal judge will decide whether social distancing and other preventive measures ordered at the Cook County Jail are being properly instituted following calls from criminal justice advocates for additional precautions.
Sheriff's Office also awaiting autopsy results of second officer who died Sunday

Sheila Rivera, 47, had worked with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office since 2012. Rivera and another corrections officer died Sunday. Officials are awaiting autopsy results to see if his death was related to COVID-19.

Defending his office’s COVID-19 testing and isolation procedures, the Cook County sheriff said Wednesday he took action to prevent the spread of the virus earlier than any other sheriff in the country.

Sheriff Tom Dart’s office said it has begun complying with a court order mandating additional protective measures inside the Cook County Jail, but it estimates its supply of surgical masks for detainees and employees will run out in “six to seven more days.”

Leslie Pieroni, 51, was pronounced dead Thursday evening at St. Anthony’s Hospital. He had been hospitalized since April 3 after he tested positive for COVID-19.

The Cook County sheriff must begin implementing additional sanitation and precaution measures at the jail, but a federal judge rejected calls for the release of large numbers of detainees.
New York Times calls jail ‘the largest-known source of U.S. infections’

Data released by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office shows 251 detainees have so far tested positive for COVID-19, as have 150 Sheriff’s Office employees. On Sunday, the jail recorded its first virus-related death.
Advocacy group: “Cook County officials have blood on their hands”

Detainee Jeffery Pendleton, 59, was pronounced dead late Sunday, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. He had been hospitalized since March 30 after he tested positive for COVID-19.

More than 150 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Cook County Jail. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the situation poses the “biggest health problem in the county.”