Woman Changes Story About Man Touching Himself in Library

Originally posted at 8:47 p.m. Wednesday 

In the days after the Orland Park Public Library was challenged to filter its adult-area computers, false media requests have been made, the library’s attorney was impersonated and a woman changed her original story about seeing a man touching himself.

On Oct. 31, a woman told a library employee at the first floor information desk that a man sitting by her in the second floor adult computer area was "grabbing his crotch and is a pedophile" at about 10:55 a.m., according to an Orland Park police report. The woman left the library and police were called, though an employee monitoring the second floor computer area said she was told nothing of the sort, and no other person reported such a thing happening, police said.

When police arrived, the man implicated by the woman was questioned by officers, and told them the woman’s claim is entirely false, according to the report.

The man, recognized by library staff as a regular, said he visits the library about three times a week to work, according to the report. 

The woman who made the claim returned to the library at about 3:10 p.m., and officers returned to speak with her. The woman refused to give her name and said she saw a man watching pornography, but "did not see anyone masturbating or indecently touching their genitals in the library today," according to the report. She further said she “never claimed that she observed anyone committing any lewd acts in the library today.” She also said she wanted nothing to do with the police investigation, according to the report.

Various false communications to the library and to Patch also have been made after Megan Fox and Kevin DuJan spoke at the Oct. 21 Orland Park Public Library board meeting. Fox and DuJan called on the trustees and staff at the meeting to make several changes, including limiting computer access after Fox claimed she saw a man looking at a naked woman on a library computer.

Fox said she did not know about the woman who changed her story, and library staff confirmed in the police report that she wasn't the woman.

Fox said she also had no knowledge of the following:

• On Oct 23, a woman left a phone message on the library’s main line saying she was Laura Campbell and claimed to be a Patch reporter, at about 9:30 p.m. She asked for a statement on pornography and said it could be emailed to media@patch.com or library administrators could "stop by the office." Patch doesn’t have an employee by that name. We do not use that email address and we do not have local offices.

• On Oct. 23, three voicemails were left on my work phone at 9:47 p.m., 9:52 p.m. and 10:43 p.m. from a person claiming to be the library’s general counsel James Fessler. During the calls, the person claimed to be the “head of the board” and acted drunk. Fessler did not call me on that date.

• On Oct. 30, library director Mary Weimar received an email from a person claiming to be G. Miguel Barroso, a "freelance journalist and videography (sic) producer for various British media outlets" and asking to film an interview "about the very strange policies of your institution concerning library usage." The email listed Mike Owen as the name on the email account. A company with that name does not appear to exist, nor is there available information on a videographer named G. Miguel Barroso. 

• Around these dates, the library received three phone calls from a person who heard the library was a "great place to come and use a private space." The calls were made to the adult services desk, the computer desk and the main information desk.

• The Orland Park Police Department is investigating possible phone harassment in regard to calls made to Fessler. The investigation is ongoing, according to Orland Park Police Commander John Keating.

Read past stories on the library computer use dispute:

• Library Porn Viewing Sets Mother on a Mission in Orland
• Megan Fox's Full Statement on Pornography at the Orland Library
• The Orland Park Public Library's Statement on Computer Use

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