A west suburban man who authorities say had a "playbook" for seducing children was ordered held without bond Thursday following accusations he tried to abduct young children on several occasions.
Giuseppe Ressa, 34, is charged with three counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, and three counts of child abduction, according to a statement from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.
Authorities started investigating May 27 after Ressa approached a 5-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sister as they were playing in the playground of their apartment complex on Dogwood Drive in Lisle, prosecutors said.
The man tried to lure the children to his vehicle by promising toys and a game of hide and seek, police said at the time.
Prosecutors allege Ressa offered to give the boy darts for his Nerf gun. Ressa also allegedly touched the girl as she played on a slide, prosecutors said.
The boy at first started to walk with Ressa to his vehicle, but returned when his sister called him back.
An older sibling then came and took the children home, and their parents immediately called police.
Local
Lisle police identified Ressa as a possible suspect and were conducting surveillance Monday when they saw him with three young children in front of an Addison apartment building.
He allegedly told the 7-year-old girl, 4-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl that he would give them candy if they followed him to another apartment building, police said.
The younger children began to follow, but the older girl ran to tell her mother what was happening, police said. Detectives intervened after they saw Ressa rub one of the children’s legs, and arrested him.
Prosecutors said police later discovered numerous writings and drawings at Ressa's home and in his vehicle, many of them referencing his "plans regarding children, plans to have sex with children" and an "obsession with young children." They also claim to have found a "playbook for the grooming and desensitization of children."
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin alleged Ressa, who authorities say most-recently worked with an afterschool program at the Woodridge Park District, had prior incidents involving children, "some of which resulted from his employment at a YMCA and at a bank."
"While working at the bank, the defendent would make notes of customers as they came through the bank, specifically notes related to the customers' children," he said.
In 2004, Ressa was arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct in connection with inappropriate contact and statements he allegedly made to a 10-year-old girl. Berlin said Ressa told police during the arrest that he "cared about her and wanted to teach her about God."
Ressa, of the 300 block of Post Oak Circle in West Chicago, was ordered held without bail at a hearing Thursday, the state’s attorney’s office said. He will next appear in court June 30.
“Through exceptional police work and the fact that the children involved came forward, Mr. Ressa faces some very serious allegations,” Berlin said in a statement. “Though very disturbing, this case should serve as a notice to parents to remind their children that there are some very dangerous people in the world and that if approached by a stranger, they should get away from that person and tell a trusted adult."
