Sept. 25--A prominent University of Chicago neurologist was found not guilty Thursday of public indecency and sexual exploitation of a child.
In delivering the verdict, Cook County Judge Paul Pavlus said he suspected the defendant, Dr. Jeffrey Frank, was in fact the man whom two teens said they saw masturbating in front of a hotel room window in Deerfield last year.
"I have a suspicion you were that man. Shame on you if you were there," Pavlus said. "But I have to uphold the law. ... I just shake my head in disgust."
Two 15-year-old boys from Ohio had testified earlier Thursday that they saw a man from across the hotel atrium standing naked in front of the interior window in May 2014.
"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it was happening. My mind was blown," said one of the boys, who was 13 at the time.
Frank's attorney countered that there was no basis for the charges against his client, noting the witnesses were not able to identify Frank in a photo lineup.
"You will have grave doubts why charges were ever brought. ... It was unambiguous that there was no ID," defense attorney Andrew Staes said.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys said Frank, 54, of Lincolnshire, had booked the room at the hotel, and officials said he was seen on surveillance cameras checking in the previous day. He had left before police arrived to investigate the teens' claims.
The judge agreed that there wasn't sufficient evidence that the man in the window was Frank, though he agreed the evidence was clear Frank had rented the room.
In addition to public indecency and child exploitation, Frank had been charged with disorderly conduct. He was cleared of all the charges, which were all misdemeanors. Frank chose to have a judge, rather than a jury, decide the verdict.
Authorities said they added the exploitation charge months after Frank's initial arrest because the teens told authorities that Frank had looked up at them and was aware of their presence.
"The defendant's actions are criminal because he knew two children were watching him," Assistant State's Attorney Britt Steinberg said during the trial.
After his arrest last year, Frank was placed on leave from his position as director of neuromedical and neurosurgical intensive care at the University of Chicago Hospitals, and his license to practice medicine was suspended. The hospital's website had touted him as a leader in his field.
"He's saved more lives than anybody in this courtroom," Staes said of his client.
The case marked Frank's third arrest on similar charges in the northern suburbs since 2002, court records show. That year, he was charged with public indecency in Lake County and later pleaded guilty to attempted disorderly conduct, according to court records. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to masturbating in front of teen girls at a Wilmette park and was placed under court supervision, records showed.
Frank declined to testify in his own defense during the one-day trial and declined to comment after the verdict.
His arrest has caused turmoil in his neighborhood near Stevenson High School.
Three men were charged last year in connection to disturbances near Frank's home, including one incident where police said a man drove up to the house and shouted "predator," prompting a battery charge against a man visiting the home who allegedly grabbed the face of the first man. Those charges were later dropped. A nearby resident also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after a separate verbal spat with Frank's wife.
Last October, prosecutors asked the same judge to bar Frank from opening his door to trick-or-treaters on Halloween, but the judge declined.
A large group of residents in the area, who've said their main concern is Frank's proximity to the school, have regularly attended his court hearings. One said after the not guilty verdict that she was too disappointed to comment.
Another neighbor, Doug Simon, said: "The judge summed it up very well, that he thought (Frank) did it but didn't have the evidence to support it."
Brian Cox is a freelance reporter.
