Man charged with sexually assaulting 2 kids at DCFS foster home

A man has been charged with sexually assaulting two young children while they were living at a foster home on the Far South Side.

The two girls, who were ages 4 and 7 at the time of the alleged assaults, had been removed from their mother’s care by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and were placed in a foster home in Morgan Park, according to court records.

Cook County prosecutors accused 26-year-old Anthony E. White Jr. of sexually assaulting the girls while they and he were living in the foster home between January 2016 and May 2017.

White is the son of the foster mother whose care the girls were placed into and he was living at his mother’s home during the time of the assaults, prosecutors said. His arrest report indicated he most recently resided in Markham.

DCFS officials were not available for more comment Thursday afternoon.

White appeared for an initial hearing on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault Thursday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse and was ordered held without bail by Judge David Navarro.

In May 2017, the children were moved to a new foster home, prosecutors said. Around July 2017, the children told their new foster mother about the assaults that look place at their last home. The children further outcried to a therapist they saw and the therapist contacted police in October last year.

The children were interviewed at the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center that month and provided information about the assaults, prosecutors said.

White was taken into custody Tuesday and made admissions to sexually assaulting the girls in a video-recorded interview, prosecutors said.

A court-appointed assistant public defender said White had no other criminal history and was a volunteer in his community.

White’s next court date was scheduled for March 5.