Round Lake Park sex offender nabbed after trailer park threat

A registered sex offender arrested last year on suspicion of providing tattoos to a woman and teenager without a license has landed behind bars on another criminal charge, Round Lake Park police said.

John E. Cate, 35, was charged with felony disorderly conduct Tuesday for threatening to plant a pipe bomb at the Round Lake Park mobile home complex where he formerly lived, Police Chief George Filenko said.

Cate was being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond at the Lake County jail in Waukegan. He was jailed after a bond court hearing Wednesday.

Filenko said Cate called his 69-year-old mother about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and threatened to place the pipe bomb in the Timber Creek trailer park office. Cate's mother lives at Timber Creek; Cate used to live there with her.

Cate made the threat apparently because he was upset Timber Creek management banished him from the property after the September arrest that involved the improper tattooing and providing alcohol to a minor, said Filenko.

Filenko said Cate's mother summoned Round Lake Park police shortly after the threat was made. Credit-card activity traced by police led them to Cate at Marina Motel & Restaurant on Route 12 in Fox Lake, where he was arrested about 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Cate was convicted of a sex offense against a girl in Georgia in August 2005 and served prison time there. Filenko said while Cate has been homeless, he was properly registered as a sex offender with Round Lake Park police.

In the September incident, police said Cate didn't have a license when he tattooed a 26-year-old Spring Grove woman and an 18-year-old man who lived at the trailer complex. Round Lake Park doesn't issue tattoo licenses to anyone convicted of a felony.