Sex Offender From Woodridge Charged With Photographing Juveniles in Buffalo Grove

BUFFALO GROVE, IL - A 35-year-old sex offender faces a felony charge for allegedly photographing two teen boys at a business in Buffalo Grove in recent weeks, police said Thursday. 

Gregory A. Rollins of Woodridge is charged with child photography by a sex offender, a class 2 felony. Rollins was convicted in 1999 of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and is classified as a sexual predator. The victim in the 1999 case was 9 years old at the time of the assault and Rollins was 18.

Rollins is now accused of photographing two teenage boys, ages 13 and 15, while they were at a business in the 1300 block of Bush Parkway in Buffalo Grove in recent weeks, said Buffalo Grove Police Department Deputy Chief Roy Bethge. The victims were with their parents at the time the picture was taken but the teens did not know they were being photographed. The photo was not sexual in nature, Bethge said. 

An anonymous complainant tipped off Buffalo Grove investigators to the photographs.  As a result of the investigation, Rollins’ technology equipment was seized and submitted to the Lake County State’s Attorney Cyber Crime Division for forensic analysis.

Investigators were able to identify the juveniles in the pictures. Both victims have since been informed about the felony charge now filed against Rollins in regards to the photographs. There is currently no evidence indicating there are additional victims.

It is a crime for a sex offender in Illinois to photograph, videotape or take a digital image of a child or instruct or direct another person to photograph, videotape or take a digital image of a child without the consent of a parent or guardian, according to state statute. 

“Through the joint efforts of the Buffalo Grove community and investigators, charges were able to be filed in less than one week from when the initial tip was reported to the police department,” Bethge said in the Thursday news release.