Upskirt Videos At Joliet Target: Ex-Church Pastor Pleads Guilty

JOLIET — Several months after being arrested by the Joliet Police Department and subsequently being removed as the pastor of Joliet's Crystal Lawns Church of the Nazarene congregation, Elias "Solomon" Jothi worked out a plea bargain on Tuesday with the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow, an agreement that does not involve a sentencing.

Last year, the Joliet police had Jothi arrested in connection with several upskirt videos of a young woman shopping at the Target store on Plainfield Road.

"Jothi stated that he had struggled, especially during the summer, with pornography," Joliet Police Detective Paul Rodriguez noted in one of his 2023 reports. "He stated that on 5-6 occasions during the summer, he used his cell phone to take unauthorized photos up women's dresses. He advised that he did not remember the locations of these incidents."

Tuesday's plea agreement was handled over Zoom by Will County Judge Sherri Hale so Jothi could remain back in India. Over Zoom, Jothi pleaded guilty to count two, disorderly conduct. Count one, unauthorized video/dissemination through clothes, was dismissed as part of Tuesday's plea agreement, according to the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

Because his work visa has been revoked and he had to leave the United States or face deportation, the judgment of conviction was entered into the court record; however, Jothi will not be returning to Joliet or the United States to serve a sentence. He did agree to pay fines and court costs, roughly $720, according to prosecutors.

Last year, Joliet Patch reported that the then-26-year-old Jothi was from India, and he came to the United States a few years ago on a student visa.

Jothi served as the Crystal Lawns church pastor since early 2022. Even though Joliet police arrested Jothi and released him on an I-bond in August, the church did not know about Jothi's arrest until Joliet Patch ran an article on Oct. 6 about Jothi's prosecution.

Last Sept. 26, Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow charged Jothi with two misdemeanors of unauthorized video/dissemination through clothes and disorderly conduct.

'Have Mercy On Me A Sinner'

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Joliet Patch obtained dozens of pages of Joliet police reports surrounding the criminal investigation at the Target store that led to Jothi's arrest and charges. Joliet police obtained a search warrant for Jothi's phone and other electronic devices on Aug. 16, a week after the Target store incident.

Some of his keyword searches had the following words or phrases: "have mercy on me a sinner," "Joliet Patch" and also "the Joliet Police Department" on the day Jothi surrendered to police, Joliet police reports show.

According to Officer Danielle Reilly's police reports surrounding Jothi's arrest, Jothi visited the Target store on Plainfield Road during the early evening of Aug. 9. During the 18-minute period he entered the women's clothing section before exiting the women's department, Jothi used his Apple iPhone camera application a total of 11 times.

According to the data recovered from Jothi's phone, Joliet police noted, Jothi video recorded the young woman inside Target during the following times:

• 7:45 p.m. to 7:47 p.m.
• 7:47 p.m. through 7:48 p.m.
• 7:49 p.m. through 7:52 p.m.
• 7:52 p.m. through 7:53 p.m
• 7:53 p.m.for about 6 seconds
• 7:54 p.m. until almost 7:56 p.m.
• 7:56 p.m. to 7:57 p.m.
• 7:57 p.m. for about 20 seconds
• 7:57 p.m. through 7:58 p.m.
• 7:58 p.m. through 7:59 p.m.
• 7:59 p.m. through 8:03 p.m., an entire 4 minutes

In addition, while Jothi was in the Target making the upskirt videos, someone sent him a text, and he responded to them with two separate texts, including one stating, "On my way," police reports reflected.

"It should be noted that Elias was still in the women's department following the victim at the time these text messages were sent ... He did not leave the women's department until 8:03 p.m.," investigator Reilly noted.

The, three days later, on Aug. 12, Jothi returned to Target, but this time, security staff notified him he was banned from the store.

"They told him it was due to a complaint from a female customer who stated she caught him recording her without her consent," Reilly wrote.

When Jothi met at the Joliet Police Station with detectives Brad McKeon and Paul Rodriguez, Jothi told them "that he deleted the videos he took of the victim. At this time, I have been unsuccessful at locating the deleted videos on the Cellbrite Report," Reilly wrote.

"Jothi stated that he has a fixation with an 'upskirt' view. Jothi stated that on those other occasions, he would take the videos, exit the store, then delete the videos so that he didn't raise suspicion or be caught by (name redacted from police report). He stated that he would then go home and masturbate to the memories of the videos."

"Jothi stated that on August 9, 2023, he went to Target to buy milk, at which time, he noticed a lady wearing 'short clothes' for which he has a weakness," Rodriguez wrote in his police report of the interview, during which the pastor said the woman was wearing a dress. "Jothi advised that 'her clothes would reveal things.'"

Related Joliet Patch Exclusive Coverage:

Pastor Accused Of Upskirt Videos At Target Terminated: Joliet Church

Upskirt Videos At Joliet Target Store Spark Confession: Joliet PD