Arlington Heights is now limiting garage sales, months after neighbors blamed an out-of-control number of such events for a home invasion and sexual assault in the Cedar Glen area. Full article
Read MoreTag: Illinois
IL: Former Illinois lawmaker registers as sex offender
ELGIN, Ill. (AP) – A former Illinois lawmaker who traded in child pornography has registered as a sex offender. Keith Farnham of Elgin is now listed on the Illinois State Police sex offender site as a “sexual predator” who possessed child pornography of a victim less than 13 years of age. The 67-year-old pleaded guilty to transporting child pornography in a federal courtroom in Chicago earlier this month. He faces up to 20 years in prison and remains under house arrest until his sentencing in March. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Alderman wants sex offenders banned from libraries in summer
Chicago’s 78 public libraries would be off-limits to registered sex offenders during summer months, when the buildings tend to be overrun with children, under a pre-emptive public safety crackdown proposed by a Southwest Side alderman. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Study – Home prices may suffer in areas near offenders
BLOOMINGTON — The legal limits on where convicted sex offenders can live have created an unintended financial consequence for McLean County property owners who may have a person considered an outcast by society living next door. The selling price for homes sold within close proximity of where a registered sex offender lives were predicted to be $6,586 lower than sold homes in areas without offenders nearby, according to a study by John Navarro, an Illinois State University criminal justice sciences student who examined the issue for his graduate thesis. Full…
Read MoreIL: Elgin police want new sex offender registration law
Members of the Elgin Police Department have asked local state officials to craft legislation that would supersede a court decision they say makes it more difficult to enforce the Sex Offender Registration Act. … “The fact that police have to prove this individual is at a specific address, I think may be a little too burdensome for the police, and not fair to the public, because we have to ensure their safety,” he said. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Chicago police easing registration process for sex offenders
Illinois legislators love to pass laws to punish sex offenders. But those laws always increase restrictions. No legislator wants to decrease restrictions on sex offenders, because that would not look good on a mailer by an opponent in the next election. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Chicago police fail to register sex offenders 601 times in just three months
On February 13 of this year, ____ ____ went to the Chicago Police Department Headquarters to register as a sex offender. He was one of 22 people who were turned away that day because the office was simply too busy. That’s according to police records. A month later, on March 21, ____ ____ was approached by Chicago police officers on the West Side of Chicago. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Two men charged after child left with child sex offender
A Davis Junction man is accused of leaving a child in the custody of a child sex offender. ___ ___ ___, 45, was charged with leaving a child in the custody of a child sex offender, according to a news release from the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department. Also taken into custody was ___ _ ___, 57, also of Davis Junction, on a charge of violating the provisions of the state’s child sex offender registration law and trespassing, the release said. ___ was being held Wednesday in the Ogle County Jail in lieu…
Read MoreIL: It’s time to take juveniles off the sex offender lists
A new report by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission takes aim at the disturbingly common practice of forcing juvenile sex offenders to comply with sex offender registries, often for life. Its conclusion: “Remove young people from the state’s counter-productive sex offender registry . . . There is no persuasive evidence that subjecting youth to registries improves public safety or reduces risks of future offending. The research does not indicate registries repair harm to victims.” Full Article
Read MoreOpEd: Teens and the Sex Offender Registry – No Good Outcomes for Anyone
Last week, I hailed a taxi in Washington, D C, and asked the driver to take me to the Keck Building for a meeting with a committee of the National Research Council. The cabby recognized the address and asked if I was a scientist. I explained that I am a retired judge and that applying science and research to juvenile court could make us all safer, save taxpayer dollars and improve the futures of kids in the justice system. He said, “That makes sense but just how can that happen?”…
Read MoreIL: Agency proposes to remove convicted juveniles from sex offender registry
(KMOV) –A new report from an Illinois agency recommends removing juveniles from the state’s sex offender registry, but law enforcement officials have concerns. The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission was assigned by the General Assembly to study the laws and remedies for juvenile sex crimes and released its report Tuesday saying, “Illinois should remove young people from the state’s counter-productive sex offender registry and end the application of categorical restrictions on collateral consequences”. The study sites that there’s “no evidence that subjecting youth to registries improves public safety or reduces the…
Read MoreHere’s Why It’s ‘Counterproductive’ To Put Juveniles On The Sex Offender Registry
CHICAGO — Requiring juveniles to register as sex offenders can hinder rehabilitation efforts and have significant, long-term negative consequences for young perpetrators who are statistically unlikely to re-offend, according to a study released Tuesday. Among the most significant outcomes of the new 150-page report released by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission is a recommendation that the state end its “counterproductive” practice of requiring juvenile offenders to add their names to sex offender registries. “Automatic, categorical registries do not protect public safety,” George Timberlake, a retired chief circuit judge who chaired the commission,…
Read MoreIL: Bill would bar sex offenders from fairs
STERLING – Three Whiteside County officials are headed to Springfield today to testify for a bill that could prevent registered sex offenders from attending county fairs. Full Article
Read MoreThe Sex Offender Shuffle
Washington Post Opinion Section: I know the term Kafkesque is overused, but I mean come on.The Chicago Police Department forces sex offenders to violate their parole. I know that sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two weeks with sex offenders waiting — for hours and hours — outside police headquarters and watching a Kafkaesque process play out. Full Op-Ed Piece
Read MoreIL: Crowded Chicago Police office forces sex offenders to violate parole
The Chicago Police Department forces sex offenders to violate their parole. I know that sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the last two weeks with sex offenders waiting — for hours and hours — outside police headquarters and watching a Kafkaesque process play out. Every morning sex offenders start lining up at 6, while it’s still dark out, sometimes even earlier than that, and I probably don’t have to remind you how cold it’s been…
Read MoreIL: Reflections on the Campaign to Stop Jail Construction
When we began our campaign to stop jail construction in Champaign County in early 2012, I thought we were doomed. The grand plan to spend $20 million on this project seemed like a done deaI. The Sheriff was driving the initiative; the leading lights in the County Board seemed to think jail construction was the only prudent course. Yet, nearly two years later we have a very different scenario. The 2014 budget for Champaign County doesn’t include a single cent for jail construction. In fact, the county has allocated more than…
Read MoreIL: From W.A.R, Action Alert for Illinois Voices
This week, an Illinois Senate Committee will be considering SB2912, a bill that negatively impacts registered sex offenders (RSOs). We need you to take the following action on this bill: Follow the link below to complete a witness slip OPPOSING this billCall or write the sponsors and committee members and tell them you OPPOSE this billPlease do this RIGHT NOW! Don’t put it off. Your voice is critical in helping to STOP these bills before it goes to the full Senate for a vote! Please see the Illinois Voices website…
Read MoreIL: Sex Offenders May Be Banned From Illinois County Fairs
A bill under consideration would ban registered sex offenders from going to county fairs. “There is a loophole in the current sex offender law that says you can’t work at the county fairs or you can’t be a vendor at the county fairs, but you can attend them,” Illinois State Representative Mike Smiddy told News 8′s Angie Sharp on Wednesday, February 12th, 2014. State Rep. Smiddy heard about the loophole following the 2013 Whiteside County Fair. The State’s Attorney for Whiteside County called him and explained an instance where a…
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