Sex offender charged with taking minor to Elgin park

An Elgin man who is a convicted and registered child sex offender was charged Saturday with illegally taking an 8-year-old boy to a local park. Grant Parker, 41, of East Chicago Street in Elgin, was charged with taking the boy to Lords Park in Elgin on Aug. 15. It's a felony for a convicted child sex offender to take a minor to a public park. According to police, Parker said he was asked by the boy's mother to baby-sit. He then allegedly took the boy to a local grocery store and to the park, where the pair were caught on surveillance video, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Lesley Gool during Bond Court Saturday. Cook County circuit court Judge Donna Phelps Felton ordered Parker to pay a $30,000 bond and to appear at a hearing at 9 a.m. on Sept. 20 at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows.