Carpentersville stalking suspect remains in jail

After three months locked up in the McHenry County jail, Leroy Leske says he's learned his lesson when it comes to the importance of following court orders.

But the McHenry County judge who put him there wasn't convinced Thursday, and rejected a request she lower the Carpentersville man's bond so he could go free while awaiting trial on allegations he repeatedly stalked and threatened his estranged wife.

Leske, 45, faces two aggravated stalking charges that could land him in prison for up to 10 years if convicted on both counts. He's also accused of violating an order of protection at least five times.

He's been in custody at the county jail since Jan. 2 after he failed to appear in court on one of the charges. Three days later, Judge Sharon Prather raised Leske's total bond to $60,000, an amount he has been unable to post.

His attorney said in court Thursday that his three months in jail since have shown him the consequences of violating court orders.

"He recognizes that after 90 days (in jail), a court order is not a direction or a mild suggestion," defense attorney William Bligh said. "It's an order."

Leske pledged that if released he would abide by any current or future court orders, including the still active restraining order filed by his wife last year.

Prather was unswayed by the promise.

"The court has not heard any evidence that any facts or circumstances surrounding this defendant have changed, other than him being in jail for 90 days," she said.

According to this wife's testimony at a previous court hearing, Leske began stalking her after she filed for divorce in July. In one case, the Crystal Lake woman said, Leske threw flowers at her front porch, striking her mother with them. On another occasion, she said, he called and made an ominous comment about having "a new toy," which she took to mean a gun.

"(He said) that I better watch myself, that he was watching me and I was going down with him," she testified. "He said that he had nothing to live for and to remember that he was crazy."

Leske has denied the allegations.