Lectures on Leadership While Dodging Questions About Sex Offenders and Taxpayer Dollars
June 04, 2026 | Freeport, IL
The Question That Started Everything
On May 16, Fighting4Freeport published an article about convicted child predator Matthew Kaufman. The article was not about politics. It was not about Republicans. It was not about Democrats. It was about a reality that many residents of Stephenson County have grown tired of watching unfold: another child predator, another victim, another case that leaves the public wondering whether anyone in a position of authority is paying attention.
The article asked a question that resonated throughout the community. Where are our leaders? Where is City Hall? Where is the County Board? Where is Freeport Township? Where is our State Senator?
The response was immediate. More than 36,000 people viewed the article and nearly 100 comments followed. Residents expressed frustration, anger, and exhaustion. Many were not simply reacting to one predator. They were reacting to what they see as a pattern of government officials explaining why problems cannot be solved rather than discussing what can actually be done.
One of those responses came from Freeport Township Trustee Kelvin McIlwain. Rather than addressing the broader concerns being raised by residents, McIlwain repeatedly emphasized that Freeport Township has no authority over sex offenders, sentencing, criminal prosecutions, or law enforcement. Legally, he was largely correct. Nobody was arguing otherwise.
The problem was that his response sparked an entirely different question.
If Freeport Township has no authority over sex offenders, what relationship does it have with them?
More specifically, how many registered sex offenders are receiving Township assistance, and how much taxpayer money is being distributed to them?
Clearing Up Confusion
Just two days later, on May 18, the official Freeport Township Facebook page published a lengthy statement titled "Clearing Up Confusion." The post stretched for 885 words and outlined the various government entities responsible for monitoring, prosecuting, registering, and supervising sex offenders. Readers were informed about the roles of the Illinois State Police, county sheriffs, state's attorneys, circuit court judges, municipal police departments, the Illinois Department of Corrections, and even federal law enforcement agencies.
The information was largely accurate.
It was also answering a question that nobody had asked.
Nobody was asking Freeport Township to arrest sex offenders. Nobody was asking Township officials to prosecute sex offenders. Nobody was asking Township trustees to sentence criminals or regulate offenders through local ordinances. The public understood that those responsibilities belonged elsewhere.
The question residents were asking was far simpler. What is the relationship between Freeport Township and Sex Offenders? How are their policies contributing to or decreasing the local crisis?
Those questions remain unanswered.
A Simple FOIA Request
On May 20, Fighting4Freeport submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records sufficient to determine how many registered sex offenders had received Township assistance and how much taxpayer-funded assistance had been distributed to them.
The request did not seek names. It did not seek addresses. It did not seek social security numbers, medical records, or any other confidential information. Taxpayers simply wanted aggregate numbers. The request sought information that many residents assumed the Township would already know.
Instead, the response that followed raised more questions than answers.
Suddenly Everyone Was Talking About Leadership
At the same time taxpayers were waiting for answers, Township Supervisor Patrick Sellers launched what became a week-long series of Facebook posts discussing leadership. Day after day, residents were presented with thoughtful reflections on honesty, integrity, transparency, intelligence, servitude, compassion, sacrifice, and public trust.
Under normal circumstances, few would object to such messages. In fact, many residents praised them.
The timing, however, is impossible to ignore.
One post described transparency as "the institutional expression of honesty." Another discussed the importance of accessible public records. Others focused on accountability and public trust.
Meanwhile, taxpayers were actively seeking public records from the very government body promoting those values.
The contrast became difficult to miss.
While the Township was discussing transparency, taxpayers were waiting for it.
While Township leadership was writing about accountability, residents were seeking accountability.
While officials were describing what good government looks like, citizens were attempting to determine whether good government was actually being practiced.
The Question They Wouldn't Answer
On May 28, Freeport Township requested a five-business-day extension to respond to the FOIA request. Illinois law allows such extensions under specific circumstances, and Fighting4Freeport agreed to the request.
However, a simple follow-up question was asked.
Which specific statutory reason justified the extension?
The Township never answered.
That fact deserves attention because it sits at the heart of this entire controversy. A public body that was simultaneously teaching lessons about transparency chose not to provide a transparent answer regarding its own request for additional time.
The question did not require a search of 2,400 files. It did not require legal research. It did not require weeks of staff time.
It required a sentence.
Taxpayers never received one.
The 2,400 File Excuse
When the Township eventually responded, officials argued that the request was unduly burdensome because approximately 2,400 client files spanning more than ten years would need to be reviewed.
At first glance, that explanation sounds reasonable.
Until one considers what is actually being requested.
The State of Illinois already maintains an official Sex Offender Registry. The names are known. The addresses are known. The registrations are known. There are not 2,400 registered sex offenders living in Freeport Township.
That reality raises an obvious question. Why would the starting point be 2,400 assistance files rather than the significantly smaller list of registered offenders already maintained by the State of Illinois?
More importantly, if Freeport Township truly cannot determine whether registered sex offenders are receiving Township assistance without manually reviewing thousands of files, what does that say about oversight?
The Township distributes taxpayer dollars. The Township determines eligibility. The Township processes applications. Yet when asked a basic question about where public money is going, officials claim the answer may be too difficult to obtain.
That should concern taxpayers regardless of their position on the underlying issue.
Actions Speak Louder Than Facebook Posts
Over the course of roughly two weeks, Freeport Township produced thousands of words discussing leadership, transparency, accountability, integrity, public trust, compassion, and sacrifice.
During that same period, taxpayers received an extension request, an unanswered question regarding that extension, multiple public statements distancing the Township from responsibility for the broader issue, and an argument that answering the FOIA request would be unduly burdensome.
What taxpayers still have not received is the information they requested.
That is the story.
Not the Facebook posts.
Not the speeches.
Not the lectures.
The records.
The answers.
The transparency.
Leadership is not demonstrated by explaining leadership. Transparency is not demonstrated by defining transparency. Public trust is not built through social media posts about accountability.
Those values are demonstrated when government is asked a difficult question and chooses to answer it anyway.
F4F Chairman's Analysis | Joshua T. Atkinson
Fighting4Freeport has never cared whether an elected official has a D or an R next to their name. We do not care whether someone is popular, connected, influential, wealthy, or politically protected. We ask questions because taxpayers deserve answers.
What happened over the past two weeks should concern every resident of Freeport, not because of what we know, but because of what we still do not know.
A simple question was asked. A public body requested additional time. The public cooperated.
Fourteen days later, taxpayers have received lectures on transparency but not transparency itself. They have received discussions about accountability but not accountability itself. They have received explanations about leadership but not leadership itself.
They have received thousands of words. They are still waiting for answers.
The people of Freeport do not need another Facebook post explaining what good government looks like.
They need good government.
And those are not the same thing.