Boy Scout camp leader accused of grooming Kane County boy

A previous version incorrectly stated Richard J. Reynolds taught at Holy Family school. He was hired, but did not teach.

A Boy Scouts camp leader has been charged with grooming for allegedly asking a Kane County boy to share explicit photos of himself.

Richard J. Reynolds, 56, of the 400 block of Logan Street in Rockford, is charged with one felony count of grooming and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, according to the Kane County state's attorney office.

He was taken into custody by the Kane County sheriff on Wednesday. He then posted $4,000 bond and was released. His next court date is Feb. 28. According to a news release, between September 2019 and March 2021, Reynolds sent direct messages, via a social media app, to the victim, who was younger than 17.

At the time, Reynolds was on the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and was co-director of Canyon Camp, a Boy Scouts camp near Stockton, according to the news release. The council governs Scouting in McHenry County and other counties in northwestern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

A June 2020 Facebook post by the camp lists him as a camp co-director.

The boy knew Reynolds through Boy Scouts, according to the news release.

The case was investigated by the Kane County Child Advocacy Center. The hometown of the youth was not given, nor details about who reported the allegations.

Sedrick Robinson, chief executive officer of the Blackhawk Area Council, said in a written statement the council learned of the allegations in August 2021 and immediately prohibited Reynolds from participating in Scouting. Reynolds' registration was revoked, and he was added to the Scouts' Volunteer Screening Database. That precludes Reynolds from any future registration or participation in Scouting, according to Robinson.

"The actions alleged to have been committed by Richard Reynolds are reprehensible and opposed to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands," Robinson said.

He said Scout volunteers and employees undergo criminal background checks, and that policy requires at least two youth-protection trained adults be present with Scouts at all times during Scouting activities. The organization also bans one-on-one interactions between leaders and Scouts in person, online, via phone or text; and bans the use of recording devices and cellphones near bathrooms and shower houses.

Reynolds taught at St. Peter Catholic School from August 1998 to June 2019, then All Saints Catholic Academy until June 2021 when St. Peter was combined with three other schools, according to Penny Wiegert, communications and publications director for the Rockford Diocese. Reynolds was hired at Holy Family Catholic School, also in Rockford, in August 2021, but when the school learned he was under investigation, he was placed on unpaid administrative leave before school began. He resigned Oct. 14, and retired Oct. 23.

Families of students at all the schools, plus Boylan Catholic High School were notified of the investigation in August 2021, Wiegert said. They were sent notices of the arrest Friday.