Somonauk man pleads guilty to 2023 kidnapping in connection with sexual assaults of child

SYCAMORE – A Somonauk 19-year-old was sentenced this week to 25 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping in connection with the repeated sexual assault of a minor, court records show.

Franklin E. Tooley was enrolled at Somonauk High School when he was arrested March 24, 2023. He initially was detained without release at the River Valley Juvenile Justice Center in Joliet, records show.

Tooley pleaded guilty April 7 to one count of aggravated kidnapping, a Class X felony. Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick sentenced Tooley to 25 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, records show. Tooley is required to serve 85% of that sentence and one year of probation when released.

He also will be required to register in Illinois as a sex offender.

Tooley was arrested after an investigation undertaken by local and state authorities. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office led the prosecution with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.

In a news release this week, DeKalb County State’s Attorney Riley Oncken thanked authorities for their assistance.

“Those who prey on the young, disabled or other vulnerable victims deserve to be incarcerated where they cannot commit further harm to families and our community,” Oncken said in a statement. “Thanks to the fine work of our law enforcement and prosecutors, this defendant will spend many years in prison for his actions.”

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped all other original charges, including 16 felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13, five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and two counts of aggravated battery, April 7 court filings show.

Tooley was 17 when he sexually assaulted a child at least five times between Jan. 31 and Feb. 21, 2023, according to court records.

During a detention hearing March 18, 2024, state prosecutor Jonathan McKay with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office called Tooley “a danger to society,” court records show.

“He’s shown that various societal norms and taboos in addition to the law simply isn’t something that matters to him,” McKay said about Tooley, according to a court transcript from the March 2024 hearing.

Prosecutors also accused Tooley of thwarting attempts for others to find out about his actions, including removing video surveillance the victim’s family had set up to watch over the minor, who has disabilities, according to court records.

Somonauk police began an investigation Feb. 21, 2023, after witnesses alleged that they heard the child crying and found the child and Tooley inside a locked bedroom, court records show.

Tooley then hid in a nearby bathroom, according to court records. Witnesses told police that they found two unplugged cameras inside the room that had been set up to monitor the child. When witnesses confronted Tooley about the cameras, he allegedly told them he “blacked out,” according to court records.

In an interview with Somonauk police, Tooley admitted to sexually assaulting the child and unplugging the cameras “because he didn’t want anyone else to know,” according to court records. He admitted to police that he had assaulted the child at least five times, court records show.

“This guilty plea and sentence represents a measure of justice for the innocent victim and their family after the defendant violated their trust in the most unthinkable way possible, and I hope this result aids their efforts to heal,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a news release.