Crest Hill: More charges for Chaney-Monge School custodian over hidden videos

CREST HILL - A custodian is facing additional charges for allegedly making videos of girls in a junior high locker room.

Ryan M. Thompson, 27, was arrested March 13 on one count of unauthorized video recording. Last week, a grand jury indicted Thompson on five additional counts of the same charge. Each count carries a one- to six-year prison sentence.

Between Feb. 1 and March 11, Thompson used a cell phone to record six different eighth-grade students from under the door of the supply closet at Chaney-Monge School, 400 Elsie Ave., according to court reports.

Thompson was released from jail soon after posting $25,000 bond. The day after Thompson's arrest, his wife filed an order of protection against him for herself, her parents and the couple's 1-year-old son. The 25-year-old woman feared Thompson would "retaliate" against her.

"I turned Ryan in to the Crest Hill police because I found videos on his work cell phone that he was taping girls at the middle school," she wrote. "He was taping the girls in the locker room as they were changing although they were fully clothed in the videos."

According to court records, Thompson's wife exchanged text messages with him about the videos she found.

"He admitted it to me through text and repeatedly said this is not the person he is and to give him another chance," she said. "He said not to ruin his life because I had this information."

Though an order of protection was issued, Thompson's attorneys have filed to have the order modified to allow Thompson visitation with his son.