‘There was something off about him’: Hoopeston mom speaks out on man facing child porn charges

HOOPESTON, Ill. (WCIA) — Last week, WCIA covered the arrest of 24-year-old Connor Gilonske in Danville. We confirmed he worked directly with children. Thursday, we talked to a mom in Hoopeston who's disturbed by the amount of time he spent with kids in the area — including her own.

Sarah Donohue has many worries about the types of charges Gilonske is facing. It's a total of 12, including possession of child porn. Police found the evidence during a search warrant at his home.

"I told everybody, I told you so," Donohue said. "I told you so. I thought there was something off about him. His looks, his actions."

PREVIOUS: State Police arrest Hoopeston man for possessing child sex abuse material

Donohue said she was not surprised to see Connor Gilonske accused of the disgusting crime. She said two of her young children spent time around him from March until May last year.

"He's like, 'I work with DCFS,' and he's like, 'If you don't feel comfortable with me bringing your son to the park, you don't have to let me go with him.' And I'm like, 'No, I think it's okay.'"

Gilonske worked alongside children in a number of roles, including as a licensed child welfare specialist. His social media accounts list Lutheran Social Services of Illinois as his place of work this past summer. Gilonske also listed CASA of Vermilion and Edgar Counties as prior jobs. Donohue says he also ran a "Big Brother" type outreach in Hoopeston in the spring of last year, but something wasn't right.

"He was bringing Braeden to the park, buying him things, coming over, playing PlayStation with him, taking him wherever he wanted to go ... even offered to take my son to Indiana Beach, and I told him no," Donohue said.

Donohue added that he was also involved at Nazarene and Lutheran churches in Hoopeston.

"There was one time, and that was the last time, he brought my son to the church and to the park, and let my son ride on his lap and let my son drive at this park here in town. And that's when I said no. When they came back, he said, 'Connor brought me to the church. There's nobody in there. He had the keys for it.' And I said, 'What?'" said Donohue.

PREVIOUS: Vermilion Co. man accused of possessing child porn was licensed child welfare worker

She said she believes all of the instances between Gilonske and her children were grooming attempts.

"It makes me feel unsafe, especially for kids like that, our foster children or children that are out there right now. If you think you could trust this person, can you trust the next person after knowing what this person was doing or could have done to a child in the system? That's not right. That's not fair," says Donohue.

And her advice for other parents in the community who are concerned:

"If somebody has a bad feeling about somebody, or if anybody had their kids around Connor, talk to them," says Donohue.

A spokesperson for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois confirmed to WCIA that Gilonske was an employee, but was "terminated immediately" after learning of his arrest.

We also reached out to CASA for comment, but have not heard back yet.