The Investigations division consists of four units: the General Investigations Unit, the Child Advocacy Center, the Child Exploitation Unit, and the Courtroom Support Specialist Unit. There are three investigators assigned to General Investigations, five investigators assigned to the Child Advocacy Center, three investigators assigned to the Child Exploitation Unit, and one investigator assigned to the Courtroom Support Specialist Unit. There is also a chief investigator who is responsible for supporting and performing supervisory duties to ensure the efficient operations of the division. The chief investigator also oversees the administrative and daily operations of the division. The division’s main function is to support the assistant state’s attorneys in the prosecution of cases.
General Investigations Unit
The General Investigations Unit supports the successful prosecution of criminal defendants by serving subjects with subpoenas and conducting follow-up investigations. These tasks are critical to ensure that defendants are prosecuted and convicted of the crimes they committed.
In 2024, the unit served many subpoenas. Each subpoena requires research to obtain the most current and accurate information as to the subject’s whereabouts. The follow-up investigations help the assistant state’s attorneys prepare for the trial. Most of the investigations involve locating and interviewing victims or witnesses to a crime. Investigators are responsible for retrieving evidence from law enforcement agencies and assisting police agencies with investigations when requested.
Child Advocacy Center
The Kane County Child Advocacy Center is responsible for investigating cases involving child victims of sexual assault or abuse and ensuring thorough, victim-sensitive investigations and prosecutions. A team that includes a prosecutor, investigator, DCFS child protection investigator, social workers, and a victim advocate collaborate on each case to minimize the stress on the child and the child’s family and to ensure that effective medical treatment and counseling are available to every child who experiences abuse.
Child Exploitation Unit
The Child Exploitation Unit began operating in August 2022. There are three specialized investigators assigned to the unit and a digital forensics expert who analyzes electronic devices for criminal evidence. Their mission is to ensure that individuals who download, possess, view, or share child pornography are held accountable.
In addition, the unit tackles so-called “sextortion” cases. This is when an adult posing as a teenager befriends teenagers through social media, coerces the teenagers to take compromising photos of themselves and eventually threatens to share the images unless the teenagers continue to share compromising photos.
Courtroom Support Specialist
The Courtroom Specialist Unit was formed in 2024 to directly support assistant state attorneys. The investigator assigned to this unit is responsible for creating digital and physical displays to clearly assist ASAs and decisively communicate evidence to a jury, therefore ensuring the successful prosecution of a case. The investigator is also responsible for maintaining original evidence held in the vault, generating paperwork, and creating a procedure to maintain the chain of evidence between police departments and the state’s attorney’s office.
