Child sex offender charged with loitering near Elgin park

A homeless man and child sex offender was arrested Thursday on felony charges that he was loitering around Festival Park's splash pad in downtown Elgin, according to police and court records.

Clintin D. Allen, 36, faces one count that has a punishment ranging from probation to up to three years in prison if convicted.

According to an Elgin police report, a City Center employee recognized Allen as a sex offender and saw him walk through a crowd of children near the splash pad at 132 S. Grove Ave.

Allen then sat on a brick wall and "was being very 'creepy' as he was looking at the children playing and climbing on the equipment," arresting officers wrote in the report regarding the employee's call to police.

Police were called about 7:20 p.m. and found Allen coming out of a washroom, the report said. Allen said he was meeting a female friend, then his girlfriend texted him and he stopped because he didn't want to walk and text. Finally, Allen said he didn't know he was prohibited from visiting the playground and splash pad, the report said.

According to Kane County court records, Allen has previous arrests and convictions relating to his sex offender status, such as failing to report his address to police and living too close to a school, day care or park.

Aurora police arrested Allen in September 2006 and February 2007 on felony charges that he failed to report a change of address to authorities. He served 77 days and 59 days in jail, respectively, for those crimes and then probation.

In May 2012, Aurora police arrested Allen on charges that he failed to report a new address and was residing within 500 feet of a school, school zone, park or day care. He was convicted later that year in a bench trial, serving jail time with a sentence of 163 days with electronic home monitoring and 30 months of probation, records show.

Allen was being held at the county jail. His bail amount was not available. He is due in court Thursday.