Attorney seeks fitness evaluation for Rochelle man charged with solicitation of sex with minor

OREGON – The attorney for a Rochelle man charged with indecent solicitation of a child and violating the Sex Offender Registration Act told an Ogle County judge Wednesday that he doubts his client is mentally fit to stand trial.

Timothy J. O’Dell, 28, of Rochelle, was arrested by Rochelle police after the department was contacted at 9:45 p.m. March 6 about an adult male trying to meet with a minor for sex in Rochelle. He was arrested after an investigation by the Rochelle Police Department Patrol Division.

O’Dell, who already had a pending charge of violating the Sex Offender Registration Act in Ogle County, was sentenced in 2023 to probation for the same offense.

The Ogle County State’s Attorney’s Office filed three felony charges against O’Dell on March 7: one count of violating the Sex Offender Registration Act and two counts of indecent solicitation of a child.

According to court documents, O’Dell failed to report to the Rochelle Police Department “any instant messaging identities, any internet communication identities” that he uses or planned to use, or other internet sites “to which he has uploaded any content or posted any messages or information.”

In the solicitation charges, he is accused of intending to commit aggravated criminal sexual abuse when he “knowingly solicited one whom he believed to be a child to perform an act of sexual penetration or sexual conduct,” discussing the meeting on the internet.

In October, Judge John Redington, who is now retired, found O’Dell fit to stand trial on a previous charge of violating the terms of his probation sentence when he allegedly failed to register as a sex offender with the Rochelle Police Department. That case still is pending.

In Illinois, individuals convicted of certain sex offenses must register as sex offenders with the local law enforcement agency in the community they reside.

On Wednesday, Ogle County Assistant Public Defender Michael O’Brien requested that O’Dell be evaluated by Jayne Braden, a forensic and clinical psychologist in Sycamore.

“I have a bona fide doubt as to his fitness,” O’Brien told Judge Anthony Peska as he asked for the court-appointed evaluation.

Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten did not object.

O’Brien said the evaluation process usually takes up to 60 days. Peska set the next hearing for 10 a.m. May 21.

Peska denied O’Dell’s request to be released from custody as his case proceeds through the court system.

“That request is denied to ensure the safety of this community and other communities,” Peska said.

O’Dell has been held in the Ogle County Jail since his arrest March 6.