A Barrington mother accused of sexually assaulting her son’s 16-year-old friend told him, “I really shouldn’t be doing this,” then said, “Whatever, who cares,” and continued, prosecutors said, adding that she physically abused other children.
Veronica M. Reyes, 41, of Barrington, was charged Monday with four counts of criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony, and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Eduardo Zermeno said Reyes is the mother of two of the victim’s friends and made herself a “constant presence” in her sons’ peer group.
She would drive the boy and other juveniles wherever they wanted to go and allegedly supply them with alcohol and cannabis.
Reyes used that access to isolate the boy inside her bedroom at her home in Barrington while the other juveniles who were there slept in other rooms, Zermeno said.
Reyes is accused of sexually assaulting the boy during two separate encounters roughly two to three weeks apart, each involving multiple sex acts.
The arrest warrant alleges the offenses occurred between February 10 and February 20 and between February 24 and March 13.
The boy told investigators that during the first encounter, Reyes asked him, “You’re 18, right?”
When he told her he was 16 and about to turn 17, Reyes noted he was close in age to her own 15-year-old son and said, “I really shouldn’t be doing this. This isn’t good,” Zermeno said.
The boy told Reyes that if she wanted to stop, she should stop, and Reyes responded, “Whatever, who cares,” and continued, Zermeno said. She later committed the same acts against him again.
The boy also told investigators about a third occasion on which he woke up in Reyes’ bed, intoxicated to the point of blacking out, with a fresh mark on his neck that he did not remember getting, Zermeno said.
Zermeno said the boy disclosed that Reyes supplied alcohol and cannabis to juveniles, drove them to conduct drug transactions, consumed his prescribed medication and used cocaine in the residence in the presence of children.
Video recovered from the boy’s phone shows Reyes drinking alcohol while juveniles rolled cannabis in her home and shows a minor drinking alcohol on camera while Reyes watched, Zermeno said.
Prosecutors said Reyes’ conduct extended to other children in her household and her sons’ peer group.
A second minor, who moved into Reyes’ residence, told investigators Reyes placed him in a chokehold three separate times within days of his arrival, each time tightening it until he could not breathe and had to tap her arm to be released, Zermeno said.
Reyes admitted to a detective that she placed the boy in a chokehold.
Both boys reported witnessing Reyes strike her own juvenile sons on a recurring basis, Zermeno said.
The second boy also told investigators that while alone with him in her vehicle, Reyes asked whether he had sexual thoughts about her and then announced to the other juveniles in the vehicle that he wanted to have sex with her, Zermeno said.
Zermeno said Reyes told the juveniles in her car that the music they played made her “horny,” told her own minor son in front of his friends that he was her “type” and her “ideal man,” and made a vulgar remark in front of her own children about the victim’s sexual performance.
Reyes also told the second boy that she likes spending time with minors “because they are always willing to do everything,” Zermeno said.
The Barrington Police Department received a report from another agency on June 8 regarding a child sexual assault that occurred in Barrington, Barrington Chief of Police David Daigle said, adding that the case was transferred to his department and an investigation began.
Reyes waived her Miranda Rights during an interview and denied ever having sexual contact with the boy and denied ever seeing any juvenile drink alcohol or use drugs, Zermeno said.
She maintained those denials when confronted with video showing her present while juveniles did exactly that.
Zermeno said Reyes contacted the second boy through a social media group message after the allegations surfaced to insist she had done nothing wrong.
Reyes was still hosting the second boy as of earlier this month and offering her home for alcohol and drug use by juveniles, Zermeno said.
The Barrington Police Department worked with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Specialized Victims Unit on the investigation. Detectives obtained a warrant on Monday charging Reyes and she was arrested Tuesday and transported to the Lake County Jail.
The warrant said Reyes held a position of trust, authority or supervision over the juvenile, which enhances the charges. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain her pending trial.
Zermeno argued no conditions of pretrial release could protect the community because the danger Reyes poses “does not arise from her presence at any particular place or from her relationship with any particular child,” but from the role she takes on with children generally as “the permissive adult who supplies what minors cannot lawfully obtain, who transports them, who hosts them, and who thereby obtains private access to them.”
A no-contact order with the victim would not address the danger because her sons live with her and their friends gather at her home, Zermeno said.
Home confinement would only confine her to the location where the risk is greatest, he said, noting that electronic monitoring does not exist in the 19th Judicial Circuit.
Zermeno said a defendant who denies conduct captured on video, contacts child witnesses after disclosure and continues to host alcohol and drug use by juveniles cannot be constrained by conditions that depend on detecting violations.
Reyes appeared before Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim on Thursday afternoon for a detention hearing and the judge granted a petition to detain her pending trial.
She repeatedly shook her head side to side, indicating “no” as the prosecutor spoke during the hearing. Nerheim scolded Reyes, telling her to behave herself in the courtroom.
Zermeno called Reyes a “parents’ worst nightmare” and noted the allegations were not a one-off occurrence. He called her house the “party house.”
A Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) case opened alongside the police investigation was inexplicably closed before Reyes was arrested or charged.
Nerheim questioned why they would close the case and Zermeno noted that the agency has since opened a second case after Reyes was charged.
Reyes, who a defense attorney argued in court that the allegations against her were just made-up rumors that spread, remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on