Sex Offender Arrested For 24th Time In Chicago Suburbs

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Dec 31, 2012 6:00PM

A convicted sex offender was arrested for the 24th time since 1995 when he was seen loitering in a McDonald's play area, watching an 11-year-old girl.

Cook County Sheriff's Police arrested Joseph O'Brien, 36, on Dec. 22 after the manager called the police. The manager said O'Brien had been asked to leave the play area on several other occasions.

The Cook County Sheriff's Department writes:

Investigators learned that O'Brien is a registered sex offender, classified under "sexual predator," and that he had been staying at a motel near the restaurant and not at his registered address in Maine Township.

O'Brien is no stranger to law enforcement; he has been arrested 24 times since 1995. In 2001 he was convicted in Cook County of aggravated criminal sexual abuse/bodily harm; in October of 2006 and again in July of 2010 he was charged with failing to register as a sex offender.

O'Brien has been charged with failing to update his address to police and with criminal trespassing. He remains in custody.