Plainfield Man Accused of Being a Window Peeper

An alleged Plainfield peeping Tom was arrested Wednesday by the Will County Sheriff's Department.

Juan C. Batrez, 39, 22117 W. Miller Drive, was charged with disorderly conduct/window peeping after a neighbor observed him peering into a window of a home near Lakewood Falls Drive in unincorporated Plainfield Township, sheriff's department spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said.

Batrez had been seen near the house several times over the last two months and had even been questioned by a resident about why he was in the area, Hoffmeyer said. His explanation was he was gathering leaves for his wife to use in making homemade tamales, she said.

The victim, however, suspected he might be doing more than that after she discovered discarded beer cans and snack wrappers in her garbage can, Hoffmeyer said.

Neighbors provided Batrez's license plate number to sheriff's officers, who contacted and questioned Batrez about his actions on Sept. 6, she said. Batrez essentially "implicated himself," she said.

An arrest warrant was issued on Sept. 20 and Batrez arrested Wednesday, she said. He was released on $5,000 bail.

Batrez, who does construction work according to his arrest record, lives about a mile and a half from where the incident occurred.