Metro-east man charged in bathroom video case; then gets arrested by ICE

Federal immigration officials have arrested a rural Breese man who was charged with unauthorized videotaping after two video recording devices were found in portable toilets at a St. Rose church, Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous said Thursday.

Marco Monreal-Rojas, 23, of the 10000 block of Breese Road, was charged with three felony counts of unauthorized videotaping in Clinton County, according to court records and a news release from Travous.

Monreal-Rojas was released from the Clinton County Jail and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, Travous said.

Shortly after he was released from the county jail, Monreal-Rojas was taken into custody by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Travous said.

Travous could not be reached for additional comment. His statement did not state why federal agents arrested Monreal-Rojas.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, could not be reached for comment about why Monreal-Rojas was arrested.

Travous said the unauthorized videotaping charges filed against Monreal-Rojas are not the type of charges that allow prosecutors to seek a detention order under the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T, Act.

Since 2023, Illinois judges have been conducting detention hearings for people charged with serious offenses. If a judge considers a person dangerous to the community, the person can be remanded to the county jail until their trial, according to the revamped criminal justice system that eliminated cash bail as part of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T, Act.

Clinton County dispatch was contacted Saturday by St. Rose officials who reported having found video recording devices in portable bathroom facilities at the St. Rose Church picnic, Travous said in a previous news release.

The data from the devices was not transferred in any way or seen by anyone other than the detectives who are handling the investigation, Travous said. Because of the low lighting in the portable bathroom, the videos are almost completely dark and no one is recognizable, Travous said.

Monreal-Rojas was represented by a public defender in a hearing Thursday morning in Clinton County court. A spokesperson for the public defender’s office could not be reached for comment.

His next court date is Sept. 10 on the Clinton County charges.