State's attorney to review Kane child abuse unit

A delay in filing sex assault charges against an Elgin High School student later accused of stabbing his teacher has prompted an internal review of Kane County's child sexual abuse prosecution unit.

Today, Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti and his top lieutenants will meet with the staff from the Child Advocacy Center to determine why it took so long to charge Angel Facio Jr.

Facio, 16, is accused of attempted murder in the Jan. 18 stabbing of his teacher at the school, an attack that caused the woman to lose vision in one eye.

While he was jailed in Cook County, a Kane County grand jury Jan. 25 indicted Facio on a dozen offenses in the rape of an 8-year-old girl Aug. 13, 2007, about five months before the school attack.

Barsanti on Thursday said he ordered the review of procedure at the center, an arm of the state's attorney's office, to determine if there was an unnecessary delay in the rape charges. Facio will be tried as an adult.

"I'm not happy with how this played out," Barsanti said, adding, "You look back at it in hindsight -- six months later -- and you think, 'Maybe you could have done it quicker.' "

While he wants to review protocol -- and consider possible disciplinary action -- at the center, Barsanti said he is unsure if charges from his prosecutors would have prevented the attack on Carolyn Gilbert.

After early dismissal from semester exams, Gilbert was alone with Facio in a classroom. A coat was thrown over her head and she was stabbed in the head and neck with a steak knife.

A week before the attack, Barsanti credited the center for seeking charges in just a fraction of roughly 400 cases in 2007, unlike his administration, which has increased caseloads.

Investigations by the child advocacy center are unlike those conducted by police and care is taken to minimize having young victims recount the event and to ensure no one is falsely accused.

But Barsanti said the Facio case could call for a revamped protocol so senior prosecutors can weigh in -- similar to the policy for major felonies -- when the center is asked to file charges.

"We need to make sure there's charges if we need them," Barsanti said.

The teenager, who lives on the 600 block of Jefferson Street, had a prior run-in with police in June 2006: a ticket for unlawful possession of a pellet gun, according to court records.

Facio is being held in Cook County's juvenile jail in Chicago. A hearing on whether the sophomore is tried as an adult in the stabbing is set for March 16 in Chicago.

Also today, a hearing could be scheduled on Facio's Kane County charges.

"We needed to respond to this better than we did. … I'm considering every option right now to make this better," Barsanti said.