Roberto Almeida, 41, of 1296 W. Oriole Court, Round Lake, faces four felony counts, also including predatory criminal sexual assault. He is being held in Lake County jail on $1 million bond.
“Nothing happened in the churches, we don’t want to implicate the churches,” Gillette said.
The case currently involves two churches, Gillette said, but he would not say which because the investigation is ongoing.
According to police, the charges stem from an alleged assault that occurred at Almeida’s home.
“Right now we are pretty confident he used churches to vet out possible victims. He’d build trust with the family and kids,” Gillette said. “He wasn’t a group leader or anything. He made himself a mentor on his own. He would befriend families and kids.”
Almeida allegedly volunteered to watch kids and offered to take them camping, Gillette said. According to Gillette, he was targeting boys between 10 and 13 years old.
At least one of the churches took note of suspicious behavior, Gillette said.
“They started getting suspicious and then he moved onto a different church,” he said.
With that in mind, Round Lake Police expressed concerned that there might be more victims.
“We’re hoping people see the picture and read the story and say ‘I was 12 and he did that to me,’” Gillette said.
The Round Lake Police investigation began Dec. 3 after the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services contacted the department with information about a young man who said he was sexually abused several years ago by a church volunteer.
Anyone with information or suspicious related to the case are encouraged call Detective Sgt. David Prus at (847) 546-8112.
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