Bloomingdale doctor charged with trying to entice Glenview teen into sexual servitude
A part-time emergency room physician was held on $250,000 bail Thursday on charges that he attempted to entice a Glenview 14-year-old to engage in sexually explicit behavior that prosecutors say would have included losing her virginity for money.
Dr. Alan Lee Sisson, 72, of Bloomingdale, is charged with involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, possession of child pornography, grooming and indecent solicitation of a minor. If convicted of the most serious charge, he faces up to 30 years in prison, longer if he is convicted of multiple charges and ordered to serve the sentences consecutively.
Prosecutors say Sisson met the teen, who they say has special needs, last August on an anonymous online chat site. Initially, she told him she was 18 but soon after revealed her true age, said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Andreana Turano. He told the girl he was 56 and asked her to call him doctor, Turano said.
During their conversations - which took place over email, phone and video calls - Sisson engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the teen during which he told her "she could earn $1,000 for losing her virginity," said Turano, who characterized Sisson's behavior as "coaching or training the victim."
According to Turano, Sisson encouraged her to run away from home and told her she could work at a strip club owned by a friend of his.
Turano said the teen sent unclothed photographs and a video of herself to Sisson, and he sent her an explicit photograph.
Late in August, the girl's mother discovered the conversations and confiscated her daughter's tablet to prevent them from communicating, Turano said. However the girl, without her mother's knowledge, purchased a cellphone Sept. 1 to further communicate with Sisson, Turano said. On Sept. 7, the mother heard her daughter speaking to someone, discovered the new cellphone and read a chat with the defendant, Turano said. She dialed the number and sent a message telling Sisson to never contact her daughter, said Turano.
The next day, the girl told her mom about their interactions and the family filed a police report, Turano said. Police subsequently recovered emails, images, calls and messages between Sisson and the teen on her laptop and phone, she said.
According to Turano, emails show Sisson in conversation with at least two unknown individuals discussing payments ranging from $200 to $1,000 in exchange for engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old.
Prosecutors say Sisson received supervision for a 1997 misdemeanor conviction of soliciting a sexual act from someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl but actually was a reporter.
Defense attorney Sami Azhari requested a reasonable bond saying, "as he (Sisson) stands before you today he is presumed innocent."
Judge Anthony John Calabrese ordered Sisson have no contact with the accuser or anyone under 18 and that he have no internet access. Sisson next appears in court on Feb. 10.