A Fox Lake father who allowed his children to live among feces on a concrete basement floor in Fox Lake has been charged with possession of child pornography, sheriff officials said.
In addition, the mother who forced her three children to live in the Fox Lake basement was told by a Lake County judge Friday that she would be held in Lake County jail if the judge had the authority to do so.
Logan Jentink, 29, of the 0 to 100 block of Woodland Avenue in Fox Lake, has been formally charged with seven Class 2 felony counts of possession of child pornography, five misdemeanor counts of cruel treatment to animals, and three misdemeanor counts of child endangerment following his arrest, Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
In addition, Sandra J. Zaluski, 23, of Fox Lake, has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and five misdemeanor counts of cruel treatment to an animal for her role in the situation.
Covelli said detectives received a tip from an online cloud storage website indicating a device in Lake County had been used to upload child pornography to their platform.
Based on a Lake County Sheriff’s Office investigation, it was determined the likely source of the child pornography was coming from a residence in the 0-100 block of Woodland Avenue in Fox Lake, Covelli said.
Lake County Sheriff’s Cybercrime Detectives, members of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit, and members of the Sheriff’s Tactical Response Team conducted a search warrant at the home on August 14, Covell said.
During the search warrant, investigators were surprised to learn an entire family was living in the basement of the home, including three children under the age of three.
Further investigation showed the three children were living in horrid conditions, including being forced to sleep on the cold concrete in the basement while the floor was covered in urine and animal feces.
The conditions were so poor, Covelli said, that electronic detection canines at the scene could not be deployed.
DCFS was contacted by investigators, Covelli said, and the children were placed into the care of a different guardian.
Covelli said Lake County Animal Control was also called in and took custody of several animals, including iguanas, a bearded dragon, a turtle, and two dogs. The animals, Covelli said, were found to be uncared for, with some appearing close to death from malnourishment.
Following a subsequent investigation, it was determined Jentink was responsible for downloading and possessing the child pornography, Covelli said. He was charged and remains held in the Lake County Jail pending a court hearing.
Zaluski appeared in first appearance court in front of Lake County Judge Helen Rozenberg on Friday morning. However, the charges against Zaluski are not detainable under the Illinois Safe-T Act.
During the hearing, Rozenberg told Zaluski she would have held her in jail until trial if she was allowed to do so.
“Miss Zaluski, these are not detention-eligible offenses. What that means is the legislature passed a law that says I cannot detain you when you’re charged with cases like these,” Rozenberg said in court. “I assure you that if I had the authority to keep you in jail, that’s exactly what I would do. The charges against you are outrageous.”
Zaluski was released following a court hearing on Friday with pre-trial conditions.
“I am very thankful our detectives acted quickly on this tip and ultimately were able to remove these children from horrid conditions,” Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg said. “This is another example of our team working tirelessly to keep our most vulnerable safe and out of harm’s way, or to remove them from unsafe conditions. Children should always be the most cherished gift a parent has, and we will continue being relentless in protecting our county’s most vulnerable.”