A Lincoln Park man who allegedly lured young girls into an apartment building laundry room and then fondled one of them in 2018 has been sentenced to four years in prison.
But, state records show that Charles Clayton is already being processed for release from prison after receiving the state’s automatic 50% sentence reduction for good behavior and credit for time spent in jail while awaiting trial.
On July 2, 2018, Clayton lured three 9-year-old girls into a residential laundry room in the 1500 block of West Fullerton and then sexually abused one of the children while soliciting the others, prosecutors said after his arrest.
According to allegations laid out in court records, Clayton gave each girl $1 and gave one of them a beer. He fondled one of the girls over her clothing and exposed himself to the children while making lewd sexual comments to one girl about what he would like to do to her, prosecutors alleged.
The girls told their mothers about what happened and they, in turn, notified police. A U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force tracked him down a few days later.
The state charged Clayton with three felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child; felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under age 13, and felony indecent solicitation of a child. A grand jury later added kidnapping and other charges.
State records show Clayton reported to Stateville Correctional Center on October 16 for a four-year sentence for criminal sexual abuse of a child. The same records show that he was scheduled to be paroled the same day after getting various credits. As of Saturday, Clayton remains at Stateville. His name has just been added to the state’s sex offender database.