Sex Offender Visits Braidwood Elementary, Spotted On School Bus: Cops

BRAIDWOOD, IL — Jason Escalante, one of Braidwood's registered sex offenders, is back in the Will County Jail and facing two new felony charges following an incident that happened last Friday, May 5, at the Braidwood Elementary School. The 28-year-old Escalante has been charged with two counts of unlawful presence within a school zone.

"A parent on the bus who is in law enforcement recognized the individual as being on the sex offender registry," Reed-Custer School District Superintendent Mark Mitchell wrote Joliet Patch's editor Wednesday afternoon. "This parent immediately called the school, and the school quickly called the Braidwood Police Department. The individual was taken into custody and transported back to the Braidwood Police Department.

"This individual was a last minute substitution for his fiancé who called in sick just prior to the event. The school district now requires a driver’s license for all field trip participants to be reviewed by administration and/or the school resource officer prior to any event. No last minute substitutions will be allowed."

According to Will County prosecutors, Escalante is a child sex offender who was knowingly present in a school building, the Braidwood Elementary School, when persons under the age of 18 were present in that school building.

The second charge states that Escalante was knowingly present in a school bus used by the Braidwood Elementary School for a field trip, when persons under the age of 18 were present on that school bus.

According to the Illinois State Police sex offender registry, Escalante was previously convicted in Will County on charges of incident solicitation of a child over the Internet and failure to register within five days of a new residence.

In 2017, Patch reported that Escalante then 22, had sexually abused a 15-year-old for five months, police said, and when he was captured, was hanging out with a different underage girl. In the 2017 incident, when he was arrested at Goodrich Park, Escalante had a 17-year-old girl in his car, police said.

On Wednesday, Escalante remained in the Will County Jail unable to post bond for his $10,000 bail. He was booked into the jail at 3:53 p.m. on May 5, the same he visited the Braidwood Elementary School property, according to court records.

The Illinois State Police sex offender registry lists 11 convicted sex offenders as residing in Braidwood. To learn their names and crimes, visit the registry.