By Rosemary Regina Sobol
Chicago Tribune
COOK COUNTY, Ill. — A veteran Cook County correctional officer is accused of bringing prohibited electronic devices into a jail barbershop where he watched pornographic videos with two detainees, officials said.
Oscar Taylor, 53 who was assigned to the barbershop, has been charged with bringing contraband into a penal institution, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Taylor, of Oak Park, has also been charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly carrying an uncased revolver near ammunition.
Taylor, who resigned after his arrest, appeared at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Wednesday in Chicago, where he was released on electronic monitoring, according to the sheriff’s office.
While Taylor monitored detainees getting haircuts, sheriff’s investigators spotted him through surveillance watching pornographic videos on his cellphone with two detainees, according to the sheriff’s office. Cellphones and other electronic devices are not permitted inside Cook County Jail.
The two inmates, William Taylor, 27, and Tyrone Noel, 39, have been charged with possession of contraband, according to the sheriff’s office, which noted that Oscar Taylor and William Taylor are not related.
Additionally, sheriff’s investigators found a firearm in a car belonging to Oscar Taylor, whose firearm owner’s identification card is revoked because of an unrelated off-duty incident, the sheriff’s office said. Details on that incident were not immediately available.
An internal investigation began in early July. Oscar Taylor had been an employee of the sheriff’s office for 22 years.
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