Surveillance video handed over in ISU sexual assault case

Law and Justice Center
Shawn Childs Jr. will next appear in McLean County Court Oct. 5. (WJBC file photo)

By Adam Studzinski

NORMAL – A surveillance video showing the arrest of a father and son as they were about to board a train back to Chicago has been handed from the Town of Normal to authorities.

Shawn Childs Sr. and Shawn Childs Jr. were arrested in July after Childs Jr. allegedly put an illegal substance in a women’s drink and sexually assaulted her in an Illinois State University dorm room.

Childs Sr. is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Childs Jr. faces four counts of criminal sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual abuse.

The men were on campus for ISU’s freshmen orientation program. Childs Jr. was supposed to begin classes at the school this fall.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…