Former teacher sentenced to sex offender probation for abusing students at Elgin preschool
A former teacher at an Elgin preschool was sentenced Thursday to four years of sex offender probation for sexually abusing two students at the school.
Frank Walaitis, 58, of the 200 block of West Main Street in Carpentersville, will also have to register as a sex offender.
A Kane County prosecutor had asked for a four-year prison sentence. Walaitis would have had to serve at least 50% of that before being eligible for parole but would have received credit for the 309 days he spent on electronic home monitoring.
Kane County Judge John Barsanti said the local sex offender probation would be better than sending Walaitis to prison “for a year and change” because it was unlikely Walaitis would receive sex offender treatment while in prison. He also ordered Walaitis to be evaluated for drug and alcohol use.
Barsanti will receive periodic reports about Walaitis, and if Walaitis violates the terms of probation, he can be resentenced.
“Those are the things I can make him do. I can keep Mr. Walaitis under the thumb of the court,” Barsanti said.
Walaitis pleaded guilty in November to five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Kane County prosecutors say that between December 2008 and July 2022, Walaitis sexually abused two students in his classroom at a preschool in Elgin. The 2008 victim reported the abuse at the time, but it was not prosecuted then.
One of the victims was 5 years old. In a letter submitted to the court, the girl’s mother said as a result of the abuse, her daughter became skittish, has nightmares, bites her nails and has become reluctant to go into any situation where she has to trust or rely on others.