Source: cbsnews.com 2/7/23 CHICAGO (CBS) — Illinois loses grant money every year as a penalty for failing to meet federal standards with our Sex Offender Registry. CBS 2’s Tara Molina found Illinois manages to get that money back – more than $2.5 million worth. But the state still is not in good standing. This has been going on for more than 10 years. Illinois loses grant money every single year since the state isn’t in compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act, or SORNA. But we found…
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IL: People with sex and gun convictions are required to register with police. CPD can’t keep up.
Source: wbez.org 1/11/23 Police turn away people trying to register, leaving them at risk of arrest. Some crime victims say the system fails them too. Outside a red brick building in Chicago’s Burnside neighborhood, Odell Whitehorn Jr. recently stood in a line with over a dozen men on a bitterly cold morning. Whitehorn is on the Illinois murder and violence against youth registry, for a crime he committed when he was eighteen-years-old, in 2000. Once a year, Whitehorn is required to register with the Chicago police. This was the fifth…
Read MoreIL: New Illinois sex offense laws taking effect Jan. 1
Source: mystateline.com 12/28/22 A handful of new Illinois laws that deal with sex offenses will go into effect Jan. 1. The first, filed as House Bill 4593, places the burden of proof on a defendant accused of soliciting sex from a minor or intellectually disabled person and claims they did not know the victim was a minor or disabled. Anyone who uses the defense must prove they were unaware of the age or disability status of the victim. Currently, that burden of proof is on the state. Gov. JB Pritzker…
Read MoreIL: Anglican church informs parishioners of sex offender attendee after three years
Source: religionnews.com 12/6/22 Church of the Resurrection, an Anglican church that serves as a diocesan seat in Wheaton, Illinois, whose leaders have faced criticism for how they handled sexual abuse allegations, informed congregants Friday (Dec. 2) that a registered sex offender has been attending the church since 2019. “We take with utmost seriousness the presence of someone who has committed a significant crime and will continue to show extreme care in the future,” Church of the Resurrection cathedral dean Steve Williamson wrote in an email to church members. … Hays…
Read MoreIL: Plan moves ahead to create Joliet park too close for sex offenders to remain in their apartments
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Source: shawlocal.com 8/4/22 The city of Joliet is about to become the owner of a fire-damaged house acquired for the strategic purpose of forcing out registered sex offenders who live a block away. The Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved the acquisition of the unoccupied house at 1000 N. Center St. at a price of $124,000. City officials, siding with Cunningham neighborhood residents alarmed about an apartment house that has been converted to living quarters for a half-dozen registered sex offenders, say they intend to build a park on the…
Read MoreIL: Former B-N piano teacher sentenced to life in 2nd sexual assault case
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2022-08-01/former-b-n-piano-teacher-sentenced-to-life-in-2nd-sex-assault-caseSource: wglt.org 8/1/22 A former piano teacher serving 450 years for sexual assault of one of his students was sentenced to life in prison Monday for similar charges related to a second student. Aaron ____ , 41, was convicted in April in connection with an ongoing sexual relationship with a minor girl that lasted years and began when she was a minor. The life term handed down by Judge Casey Costigan is in addition to the 450 years Aaron received in January, also given by Costigan. Read the full article…
Read MoreIL: Controversy in Joliet highlights difficulty of housing sex offenders who have completed their sentences
Source: chicagotribune.com 6/6/22 At a public meeting in Joliet, residents stood up and spoke out against an apartment building that houses sex offenders in a city neighborhood — with one resident lamenting that she wouldn’t let children play outside unless she was on her lunch break, according to a video taken by an attendee. Other residents, according to accounts of some at the meeting, advocated for violence against the sex offenders, threatening homicide and arson. The heated public meeting Wednesday, which centered around an apartment building that houses about six…
Read MoreIL: Joliet Officials Attempting To Shut Down Sex Offender Housing Unit
Source: patch.com 5/31/22 JOLIET, IL — Joliet city officials on Tuesday announced that they will attempt to eliminate housing for sex offenders in an attempt to minimize the presence of those convicted of sex crimes. … “It is absurd that anyone at any level of government would think (sex offender housing) is a good idea,” O’Dekirk said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “The City’s Legal Department has been instructed to take all appropriate action to shut this down. I believe placing five sex offenders at one location in any…
Read MoreIL: Attorneys for sex offender release statement about arrest
Source: ourquadcities.com 4/22/21 Attorneys for a registered sex offender have released a statement following their client’s arrest for unlawful presence. Sterling Police arrested Craig D. ____, 25, of Sterling Wednesday, April 20 on three counts of unlawful presence within a school zone by a sex offender, according to a news release from the Sterling Police Department. Craig, a registered sex offender, is alleged to have been on the property of Franklin Elementary School on three separate occasions when children younger than 18 were present. Attorneys for Craig have released a…
Read MoreIL: Roxana rally targets Cone Barn
Source: thetelegraph.com 4/10/21 ROXANA — Since 2006, Tanea Berry and her husband, Josh, have been neighbors to the Cone Barn at 323 N. Central Ave. in Roxana. They have memories of both of their children walking next door and grabbing ice cream. But recently the Berrys, along with other community members, don’t have that same sense of comfort in letting their children near the ice cream shop. The Cone Barn was recently bought by Terry Hogan whose husband, Terry _____, is on the Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registry. Court…
Read MoreIL: Illinois judge who reversed sex offender’s conviction is reassigned
Source: nydailynews.com 1/15/22 The Illinois judge who sparked outrage after reversing a sex offender’s conviction has been reassigned. According to the Herald-Whig newspaper, on Thursday Adams County Judge Robert Adrian was removed from presiding criminal cases and reassigned to civil cases — including small claims, legal matters and probate dockets. Adrian first made headlines earlier this month, after he overturned the conviction of 18-year-old Drew Clinton, who had been found guilty in the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl last year. Read the full article
Read MoreIL: Changes will deny probation for some child pornographers
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Source: wgem.com 12/29/21 QUINCY (WGEM) – There’s a change to a law that has to do with possession of child pornography. Legislators closed a loophole that allowed family members found to be in possession of child pornography to escape jail time. Starting on Jan. 1, possession of child pornography when the child is a household or family member is a non-probational offense. This means the offender will serve jail time if convicted. Previously, this category of offenders could receive a sentence of probation for their pornography conviction. Read the full…
Read MoreIL: Landlords want shared risk to rent to risky tenants in Bloomington-Normal
Source: wglt.org 10/27/21 McLean County social service leaders say they aren’t yet seeing the impact of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic eviction moratorium – but they’ve been preparing. During a McLean County League of Women Voters forum about homelessness Tuesday night, Matt Burgess, chief executive officer of Home Sweet Home Ministries (HSHM), said he’s already been in talks with a property management company with roughly 1,000 apartments about working on master leases that would include a rent guarantee from HSHM. … Typically the programs provide money for security deposits,…
Read MoreIL: Felony child sex offenders evade background checks, state law to make state fair carnival vehicles in Illinois work
Source: illinoisnewstoday.com 9/22/21 Illinois State Police investigation is “open and ongoing” Agricultural Ministry may terminate carnival company contracts as “indignated” After investigating Target 3 Springfield, Illinois — A registered sex offender six months after the Illinois Correctional Bureau released 41-year-old Jason Flynn from state prison on Ferony’s conviction, including sexual abuse of a 12-year-old child. Was working on a carnival. Equipment near toddlers at the Illinois State Fair. Despite background checks protocols and state law designed to keep child sex offenders away from children at fairs, the WCIA survey is…
Read MoreIL: Former GOP House speaker agrees to settlement with man whom he allegedly molested as a child: report
Source: rawstory.com 9/15/21 On Wednesday, CBS 2 Chicago reported that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has agreed to a “tentative” settlement with the man who alleges he paid him off to cover up child sex abuse. “The man, referred to only as James Doe in filings, brought the breach-of-contract lawsuit in 2016 in a bid to force Hastert to pay the unpaid balance of the hush money, nearly $2 million. Hastert’s lawyers said the 2010 deal was void after Doe spoke about it to others,” said the report. “A…
Read MoreIL: Democrat-Sponsored ‘TEXAS Act’ Would Allow $10K Bounties On Sexual Abusers…
Source: nprillinois.org 9/14/21 Two weeks after Texas effectively banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a Democratic state lawmaker in Illinois is proposing a law based on Texas’ model — but turned on its head. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), who in 2019 sponsored law defining abortion as a fundamental right in Illinois, is introducing a bill dubbed the “EXpanding Abortion Services Act,” the acronym of which spells TEXAS. The Texas law is uniquely designed, allowing private citizens the right to bring a civil lawsuit against anyone who performs an…
Read MoreIL: ‘Predator hunter’ leader indicted after alleged sting operation to trap supposed sexual predators
[nbcnews.com – 5/28/21] An Illinois man who created a Facebook group known to track potential sexual predators was charged in connection with a sting operation that went awry in early January, prosecutors said Monday. Kyle Swanson, 30, was indicted on a charge of unlawful restraint, obstruction of justice and assault in connection with his involvement with the KTS Predators Hunter Organization, according to court records. For more than two years, the vigilante group has posed as children on social media, tricked men into meeting up at public spaces in Illinois…
Read MoreIL: Bill would make no-contact orders for sexual offenders permanent
[newschannel20.com – 4/14/21] SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — A new bill making its way through the Senate would protect sexual assault survivors from their attackers for life. Senate Bill 2277, sponsored by State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, aims to protect sexual assault survivors from ever seeing their attacker again. This legislation would make civil no-contact orders permanent if the assailant is criminally convicted of sexual assault. Currently, under law, people must renew no-contact orders every two years. Read the full article
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