In a 2020 sermon, Pastor Steve Cassell claimed children had been molested at three churches in the region—and that church leaders concealed what happened. Six years later, as Fighting4Freeport documents allegations involving more than a dozen girls concerning Cassell's own conduct toward them as children, his recorded words raise a critical question under Illinois' mandated-reporter law: Did he report what he knew?

After Desiree Ewinger publicly defended Steve Cassell, questioned Fighting4Freeport’s credibility and attacked the motives of those investigating allegations involving girls, we decided to examine hers. What we found in the public court record includes an accepted guilty plea, court supervision, treatment requirements, random drug testing, civil judgments and foreclosure — along with important limits on what those records actually prove.

Libel. Slander. Defamation. The words are being thrown around Freeport with increasing frequency—but what do they actually mean? Sarah Collins breaks down Illinois defamation law, the protections surrounding opinion and government criticism, and why saying something is “libel” doesn’t make it so.