LAWRENCE CO.—The arrest and subsequent sex-related charge filed against a well-known Lawrenceville man has left some in the community shocked, but those involved in the investigation say there is probably more to come, and the situation will be no less shocking when it does.
Hubert C. “Skip” Davis, 70, most recently an announcer for WAKO in Lawrenceville, was arrested on the morning of Friday, December 7, 2012, after complaints were fielded by agents from the Department of Children and Family Services.
Complaints went through DCFS
The complaints, according to sources involved in the investigation, came from pre-teen and teen girls on the junior high basketball team in Lawrenceville.
Sources indicate that Davis, who has been observed by Disclosure staff in the past at newsworthy events in Lawrence County communities covering the events and in fact shooting photos of them (although said photos were never featured at the radio station’s website), had managed to get close to the girls by making friends with their parents, who were sometimes hard-pressed to get the girls to basketball practice.
Because Davis was always in attendance at games as well as practices, and always with his camera, he would advised the parents (usually moms) that he could “give the girls a ride” to and from practices and games.
He would then allegedly load the girls into his vehicle…and on the route to and from, take advantage of the close quarters by fondling the girls who rode in the front seat closest to him.
Activity at ball games
Complaints also surfaced regarding the practices and games themselves.
The girls told mandated reporters and DCFS investigators that while at the practices and games, it seemed that Davis always had his camera lens trained on their crotches or behinds.
Davis’ camera rig, it was reported to Disclosure by sources close to this portion of the investigation, was professional and very expensive. One of his zoom lenses alone, Disclosure was told, was in the price range of $900 or more.
A handful of photos Disclosure sources said they viewed (whether printouts or in digital format is unknown) revealed what the young girls were claiming: that Davis was zooming in, very close-up, on their crotches at particular moments when their legs were apart, whether in regular action on the court or while innocuously seated and waiting to get into the game.
Very specific charge
However, what Davis was ultimately charged with—a crime with a lengthy title called by Illinois Compiled Statutes “Indecent Solicitation of an Adult age 17 or older to Commit an Act of Sexual Penetration with a Child under the age of 13”—was a little more than fondling in a vehicle or taking shots of developing lady parts at a basketball practice.
Apparently this charge emerged from the volume of material found in Davis’ house, located in the vicinity of the Lawrence County hospital, according to witnesses who observed the activity there.
Sources say when police arrived to investigate, they found “stacks and piles” of material said to be related to child pornography.
Apparently amongst this was a depiction of some act, or at least evidence that it had occurred, that lead new Lawrence County State’s Attorney Chris Quick to file such a specific charge: That Davis had somehow enticed a person of majority age, other than himself to have sexual penetration with an underage person.
The sexes of those involved as well as the identities were not available as of Disclosure’s investigation into the charge.
Illinois law
Illinois’ law reads that a person commits such an act when he “arranges for a person 17 years of age or over to commit an act of sexual penetration…with a person under the age of 13 years/over the age of 13 but under the age of 17…and is included but not limited to oral or written communication and communication by telephone, computer or other electronic means.”
Under the law, this could mean just about any kind of circumstance wherein Davis could allegedly have solicited any adult to have sex—in front of him, presumably—with an underage person: via computer, cell phone, or in person.
A ‘paint’ game
The latter, Disclosure staff was advised, allegedly had been occurring for years.
According to one Lawrence County source, Davis had run a game out of his house whereby he was always “painting a room in the house and needed a kid to come help him decide what color of paint looked good.”
Once Davis got the kid in the house, the story alleges, he’d show paint color selections in the room in question…where there just happened to be a VCR and TV, showing locally-made porn (whether this porn was shot by Davis or not was unknown according to the source relating the information).
Davis would then allegedly tell the teen/pre-teen, “Oh, yeah, that…yeah, that’s some friends of yours. You know, that kind of stuff is okay to do; see, your friends are doing it” and thus entice the young person to get involved in being videotaped.
The source said that this kind of activity had allegedly been conducted by Davis for years and involved perhaps hundreds of local children.
Authorities indicated that indeed, videos and other material dating back to the 70s were found in Davis’ house in “stacks and piles.” Authorities declined to get more specific than that.
Quick did tell Disclosure that it’s possible more charges would emerge out of the discovery as soon as everything was processed.
Residents: Why did it take so long?
Many Lawrence residents, stating openly that Davis had allegedly been up to this activity for decades, wondered why it took so long to bring these alleged activities to light…and if there hadn’t been some mechanism in place that was “protecting” Davis up to this point that is no longer in place.
Opinions vary, but Disclosure is looking into every angle, including the possibility that certain powerful influences in Lawrence County are no longer in play.
One thing is certain: Quick is no stranger to prosecuting those who commit crimes against children.
During his four years in the prosecutor’s office in Wabash County, Quick made short work of child molesters and shipped many off to DOC; the sex offender registry for Wabash grew exponentially while Quick was in office, and has noticeably dropped off since current prosecutor Cassandra Goldman (who is reportedly angling for a judgeship when current Wabash County resident judge Steve Sawyer retires in two years, even though she has never had a jury trial) took over in 2008.
It appears Quick is continuing in his efforts to ensure that children, the most vulnerable of those he represents as the peoples’ attorney, have justice on their side in Lawrence County.
Skip Davis, who has no recorded criminal history, remains jailed under a $500,000 bail ($50,000 cash bond) and is facing a preliminary hearing date of January 2, 2013.