DUNLAP, Ill. (WMBD) — Conversations were heated at the Dunlap Library board meeting Tuesday night.
After a man was caught printing pictures of young girls, visibly aroused at the library, the community raised concern for the children in the area.
“Is it the policy if the guy were to come back, you’d call the police? Because he’s a sex offender, he’s not supposed to be here, he’s not supposed to be around kids, I would think he’s going to jail,” said one of the public commentators.
Laura Keyes-Kaplafka, director of the library, was in attendance at the meeting, but withheld her nameplate, and declined to respond to roll-call.
Keyes-Kaplafka is the one who suspended two employees after they reported the incident to her, and one of those employees said she was suspended for discussing the situation with her boyfriend.
“I saw something, I said something and I thought it was going to the right hands, that someone might have been, ‘oh my God, that’s horrible, let’s talk, I will try and figure something out.’ I didn’t get anything like that,” said the suspended employee.
Keyes-Kaplafka gave the employee’s statement to a police officer but didn’t allow the employee to tell her side of the story.
“She’s not doing anything about this. She’s not making me feel safe, she’s not making anybody else feel safe,” said the employee.
All public commentators and employees still don’t have answers from the board or Keyes-Kaplafka, who avoided questions during the meeting.
“If he walks in these doors, what’s going to happen? What am I supposed to do? Just let him come on in? Come on in buddy, print off all the pictures of little girls that you want,” said the employee.
The board will not have answers on how to resolve the situation until June 27, when they release a public statement at the next board meeting.