Skokie man gets prison for exposing himself at Lake County pools

A Skokie man was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for exposing himself to children at two Lake County swimming pools.

Jeffrey Sonderman, 54, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child during a hearing before Associate Judge Daniel Shanes.

Assistant State's Attorney Brett Henne said Sonderman was at the Barrington Park District pool around 2 p.m. on May 23. He walked around the pool area for about two hours, then exposed himself to five children between the ages of 8 and 15.

By the time the children had told their parents, Sonderman had left the pool but a surveillance camera provided police with a general physical description of him.

Barrington police sent out the description to other agencies, and a Wilmette officer offered a photograph of Sonderman taken after his 2005 arrest for a similar incident in that community.

Several of the children from the Barrington pool identified Sonderman as the man who had exposed himself to them and he was arrested.

Sonderman posted $5,000 for bond and was living in a Waukegan motel when he appeared at the Hunt Club Park Aquatic Center in Gurnee on the afternoon of July 31. There, he exposed himself to four children, who immediately told a lifeguard who chased Sonderman into the parking lot.

The lifeguard gave police a description of Sonderman's car, and he was arrested at the Waukegan motel later that day.

He had been held on $500,000 bond since his second arrest.

Henne said Sonderman faced a maximum sentence of three years in prison if convicted after a trial.