Prosecutors strengthen child abuse unit

Kane County prosecutors have revamped their protocol for handling child abuse cases and now require a senior prosecutor be involved from the outset in deciding if or when to press charges.

The overhaul of Child Advocacy Center procedures was sparked by the revelation that an Elgin High School student accused of stabbing a teacher had been accused five months earlier of sexually abusing a girl -- without facing charges.

The key change announced Tuesday requires members of the state's attorney's priority prosecution unit to review requests for charges from the Child Advocacy Center, which would allow senior prosecutors to weigh in on cases.

Before, a lone prosecutor from the Child Advocacy Center would make the call on what actions to take in each case.

"We had a situation and we had a case that called on us to take a closer look at our protocol and policies," said Clint Hull, the county's first assistant state's attorney.

Carolyn Gilbert, a consumer and family science teacher, was attacked with a steak knife on Jan. 16. Gilbert lost an eye. Angel Facio, 16, was charged with attempted murder in the case.

While in Chicago's juvenile lockup, Facio, of the 600 block of Jefferson Street, was charged with rape in Kane County and accused in the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl last August and trying to abduct a Larsen Middle School student in January.

The delay in filing the rape charges in Kane County, which require Facio to be tried as an adult, prompted an internal review of the Child Advocacy Center.

Partially driving Tuesday's action is the thought that the knife attack might have been prevented had the August accusation been acted on more definitively.

"It's a way we can look at it to be sure we can prevent something like this from ever happening again," Hull said. "A sexual assault to a minor is as serious as a murder. ... We're going to have our most experienced prosecutors take a look at it."

Facio is scheduled to appear in court on his Kane County charges April 8. The next day, he is due in court in Cook County, where authorities are weighing if he will be tried as an adult in the stabbing.