A registered sex offender who was awaiting trial for sexually assaulting a boy in Rogers Park is the second detainee to die at Cook County Jail from COVID-19 complications, according to court records and the Cook County Medical Examiner. Leslie S. Pieroni, 51, was pronounced dead at 5:51 p.m. Thursday at St. Anthony’s Hospital.
CWBChicago first reported the latest allegations against Pieroni in December 2018.
Pieroni was already in the state’s sex offender registry for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old in 2003 when prosecutors accused him of repeatedly sexually assaulting another 12-year-old boy in the apartment complex where Pieronio worked as a janitor.
Pieroni threatened to kill the boy if he told anyone about the series of assaults, according to court records.
The attacks allegedly began around Nov. 15, 2018, on the 1700 block of West Estes. Pieroni touched the boy’s private areas on “numerous occasions,” police said. When the victim backed away from one encounter, Pieroni allegedly said, “Come here! Come here. If you tell any one I’ll kill your family.”
Pieroni also sent text messages to the boy and ordered him to delete the messages after receiving them, police said.
State records show Pieroni was convicted in 2003 of two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under 13-years-old. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on one count and seven years on the second count. Records show Pieroni was discharged from parole on Dec. 3, 2016.
A total of 276 detainees at Cook County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as of 5 p.m. on Apr. 9, according to sheriff’s office records. Another 172 employees of the sheriff’s office have also tested positive.
