Featured IL News Stories:
DNA Tests Clear Ill. Inmate of 1992 Rape
Associated Press
24 Nov 2006 12:00 am
Authorities are reviewing the conviction of a man imprisoned for a 1992 rape after he was cleared by DNA tests that the original lab analyst refused to conduct.
Marlon Pendleton's lawyers received the results of the new tests Wednesday and filed a motion seeking to vacate his conviction. Prosecutors were reviewing the case and Pendleton's conviction in another rape, said John Gorman, spokesman for State's Attorney Richard Devine.
A hearing was set for next Thursday.
"It was no surprise to me," Pendleton, 49, told the Chicago Tribune on Thursday in an interview at the Dixon Correctional Center. "I always knew I was innocent."
Pendleton demanded DNA testing after his arrest, but police lab analyst Pamela Fish said there wasn't enough genetic material to test the evidence. Pendleton was convicted based on the victim's identification.
The expert who conducted the new tests, Brian Wraxall of Serological Research Institute, said Wednesday he was surprised at Fish's report "because I found a reasonable amount of DNA."
Fish's work has been challenged in the past, most notably in the cases of four men later cleared by DNA evidence of the 1986 rape and murder of medical student Lori Roscetti.
'Predator' gets 8-year term
RUTH ANN KRAUSE
28 Sep 2006 12:00 am
Calling him a predator and a menace to children, Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced convicted sex offender Jack Don Ragan to eight years in prison for molesting a now 15-year-old boy.
"I don't think I have ever seen such a predator in my life," Vasquez said. "You are an absolute menace to any child you come in contact with."
Vasquez said he felt Ragan deserved the maximum eight-year prison term spelled out in his plea agreement. He noted Ragan has had prior convictions, all of which involved sexual behavior with children.
The boy's mother told the judge her loving, affectionate and trusting son was completely changed by the incident. He ran away from home and was suicidal. "It made him feel nasty and dirty," the mother said.
Ragan, 56, pleaded guilty to the original charge in the case, but in exchange the state dismissed several other charges from other cases, including criminal deviate conduct, a Class B felony carrying a maximum 20-year prison term, and being a repeat sexual offender.
Sex Offenders May Be Among Carnival Workers
Dave Savini
21 Sep 2006 10:16 pm
When carnivals roll into Illinois cities and towns, the companies running them might be bringing more than bright lights, wild rides, cotton candy and games. They also can bring trouble in the form of workers with dangerous criminal histories, including armed robbers, drug dealers and sex offenders.
A CBS 2/Naperville Sun investigation has uncovered serious flaws in the way many companies screen workers and found carnival companies repeatedly hiring habitual offenders. Some even allegedly recruit and exploit homeless people with severe psychiatric disorders.
There is no state law requiring carnival companies conduct mandatory background checks on carnival workers.
In the last three years, a ride operator with a criminal record molested an 8-year-old girl at a Downers Grove festival; a convicted child sex offender got a job running a merry-go-round at a Palatine festival; and a carnival worker with an outstanding warrant for burglary charges and who had a prior arrest for raping a child was caught working at a Glen Ellyn carnival.
The CBS 2/Sun three-month probe found that some communities do conduct background checks of carnival workers. Some suburban police departments will check for sex offenders, gang members and those wanted on warrants.
Since 2005, random police checks by other agencies found 225 carnival employees with a combined total of 744 arrests and 184 convictions. Police sources confirm convicted murderers were among this group.
The CBS 2/Sun investigation also uncovered allegations involving carnival companies preying on homeless people and psychiatric patients for cheap labor.
Sex criminals worry neighborhood
CHRIS WETTERICH
19 Sep 2006 12:00 am
Spurred by controversy over three convicted sex offenders living in the same block of West Lawrence Avenue, Springfield aldermen tonight will consider a resolution aimed at limiting the number of serious sex criminals who can live in one area.
A vote on an ordinance changing the zoning code could occur later this year.
Neighbors have been upset that the Nu-Focus Foundation, a faith-based community organization that owns residences at 618 and 620 W. Lawrence Ave., has housed a sex offender at each, including one man deemed a sexual predator.
A third house, at 639 W. Lawrence, which a Nu-Focus representative said the foundation is not involved with, also houses a sex offender, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Carla Covington, a neighborhood resident, said she realizes that sex offenders who have served their prison time must be further rehabilitated, but feels clustering three together poses an unreasonable risk to residents.
She also worries about other parolees who are not sex offenders who live in the homes. Corrections does not provide information about their identities or crimes to neighborhood residents.
Chicago apartment fire kills 6 children
F.N. D'ALESSIO
03 Sep 2006 12:13 pm
Fire swept through a three-bedroom apartment on Chicago's North Side early Sunday, killing six children and injuring their mother and three siblings, authorities said.
A candle may have caused the fire, officials said.
The family had been without electricity for at least a month and had been relying on candles for light, Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco said.
"What do you say?" Orozco said. "There's nothing you can say. It's been the worst in a long time. The only thing you can do is just pray for these poor people."
Barrington hospital sued over alleged rape
ABDON M. PALLASCH
24 Aug 2006 12:00 am
Officials at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington left a 22-year-old mentally disabled woman alone in a day room
with an ex-con who raped her, according to a lawsuit expected to be filed this morning in Cook County Circuit Court.
The ex-con, Jason Haegler, 34, also a patient at the hospital, has an extensive rap sheet including a 2002
conviction for aggravated battery of a mentally handicapped individual, the suit states.
The victim, referred to as "Jane Doe" in the suit, has the mental capacity of a minor. She periodically is admitted
to Good Shepherd's psychiatric department for outbreaks of anxiety.
On June 23, Doe was left alone with Haegler in a room with no monitor, no nurse, no security guard and no orderly,
giving Haegler the chance to "brutally rape" Doe, the suit states.
"It's gross negligence," said Doe's attorney Devon Bruce of Power Rogers and Smith. "[Doe] was a mentally disabled
individual who was seeking help and treatment at Good Shepherd Hospital. She was left completely unattended and in
fact placed with a known repeat felon who had been convicted of multiple violent acts. As a direct result she was
forcibly raped."
The suit says the hospital was "understaffed."
A year of lost freedom: $6,000
Chicago Tribune
12 Aug 2006 12:00 am
How do you put a price on a year of freedom? Illinois puts the value at $6,000. That's how much the state
compensated Michael Evans for each of the 27 years he spent imprisoned for a crime DNA evidence showed he didn't
commit.
Evans left prison in 2003 and received little more than a hug from his family. No money. No training. No job
placement. No therapy. No apology.
It took two more years and a governor's pardon before the state coughed up $162,000 to compensate Evans for his lost
life. Evans has distributed most of that sum to family members and others who helped win his release.
On Tuesday, Evans lost a $60 million civil lawsuit he brought against 10 former Chicago police officers he accused
of conspiring to manipulate evidence and coerce an eyewitness in his criminal trial. So $162,000 is likely to be all
he'll get for his ... inconvenience.
Illinois needn't compound one shame--falsely imprisoning an individual--with another, failing to offer fair
compensation to him. It's time to change the state's compensation law.
Women Gain When Men Wrongly Accused of Rape Are Freed
Mattie Delone
03 Aug 2006 12:00 am
Last month, Alan Newton walked out of a Bronx courtroom a free man. Twenty-two years after he was convicted for a brutal rape that he didn't commit, he was finally exonerated. For the first time since 1984, he decided what he would wear and what he would do.
One of the first things he did was approach several dozen reporters to talk about the rape survivor who mistakenly identified him as the perpetrator, leading to his conviction. Before addressing his own wrongful conviction and his new freedom, he said his thoughts were with the rape survivor.
His voice chocked with emotion, he expressed compassion and sympathy for her.
Child molester gets 21 years in prison
BETH HUNDSDORFER
12 Jun 2006 12:00 am
Jeremy Thurman offered to help care for the children of a stressed coworker, but police said he used the opportunity to repeatedly rape and molest the friend's 5-year-old daughter.
On Monday, Thurman, 25, received a 21-year prison sentence for aggravated criminal sexual assault.
"He was supposed to be helping us with our children," said the victim's father in a written statement. "Instead, he used the situation to force vile and disgusting acts on our little girl."
Sex offender arrested outside school
24 May 2006 12:00 am
A convicted sex offender now faces felony charges after being found on the grounds of a South Side school with a gun in his waistband and his hand down his unzipped pants, according to police.
Leon Patton, 57, of the 7200 block of South Langley, was arrested as classes were being let out on Tuesday after a school security guard found him on the grounds of Susan B. Anthony School (for grades 4-8), 9800 S. Torrence Ave., according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor.
The guard called police, who arrested Patton on an outstanding warrant for failing to register his change of address as a sex offender, police said.
The State Police Sex Offender Registration shows Patton has a previous Cook County conviction for the rape of a victim under age 18.
Police Say Ill. Pastor Spanked Girl
15 May 2006 12:00 am
A pastor was charged with spanking a 12-year-old girl with a piece of wood because he thought she was lying when she said she was sexually abused by a relative.
Police said the Rev. Daryl Bujak struck the girl, now 13, hard enough to cause bruises and welts after she was brought to him for counseling because her mother doubted the claims.
Officials said they believe the girl's allegations of sexual abuse, and this week authorities in McHenry County charged a 33-year-old man with abusing her from September 2003 until March 2005.
"It's unbelievable," said Lt. Mike Turner. "It's a sad case for this girl."
The mother said Bujak, pastor at First Missionary Baptist Church in suburban Chicago, told her the girl had acknowledged lying when they met between March and May.
"I feel terrible," said the mother. "I feel like a heel. I didn't know."
Bujak, who was charged with misdemeanor battery, surrendered to police Wednesday and was released after posting $500 bail. A message left Friday at the Elgin home of a Daryl Bujak was not immediately returned.
St. Louis schoolboys to be charged in sex assault
Reuters
10 May 2006 1:12 pm
A dozen schoolboys aged 6 to 8 years old will be charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a female classmate during recess and a teacher who was supposed to be supervising them has been fired, authorities said.
The boys surrounded the 8-year-old girl on the school playground and poked at her with their fingers while she fought to keep on her underwear, local media reports said. Another student alerted teachers.
Bill Calls For Private School Employee Checks
01 May 2006 1:59 pm
A bill authored by State Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins, D-Chicago, to protect private school students from past criminal and sex offenders has passed the Senate, according to a release from Collins.
Senate Bill 858 requires applicants for non-public school employment to authorize fingerprint-based criminal records checks as a condition for employment.
The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously and is now being considered in the House, mandates that any non-public elementary or secondary school wishing to attain ISBE recognition must require all applicants to authorize fingerprint-based criminal records checks as a condition of employment, the release said.
The school must also perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database for each applicant, Collins said, noting that public schools are already required to perform the aforementioned checks on applicants.
“I think it's important to put our school children first when we are deciding on who to hire at any school, public or private,” Collins said.
Ill. Seeks to Commit Sex Offender
A Catholic priest who was scheduled for parole Tuesday after serving two years in prison for molesting boys will instead be sent to a state treatment center for sexually violent criminals, where he could be committed indefinitely.
Suspect Pleads Guilty in 1998 Ill. Slaying
A convicted sex offender pleaded guilty Monday to the 1998 murder of an 11-year-old girl whose death drew national headlines when two young boys were accused of the crime.
Floyd Durr, already serving a 125-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting other girls, was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for the murder and sexual assault of Ryan Harris.
Authorities initially said two boys, then 7 and 8, confessed to the crime. It took almost a month before testing on the girl's clothing showed the boys couldn't have been responsible.
One alderman called the case "one of the most shameful episodes in our city's history."
Attorneys for the two boys claimed that police framed the children and ignored evidence of their innocence, but police have long denied that, and the city did not admit any wrongdoing in its settlements with the families.
