Sex Offender Sweep: 5 Offenders Under Investigation

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — On Aug. 8, the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office hosted a multi-jurisdictional police initiative to check compliance on all registered sex offenders and registered violent offenders against youth residing in Kendall County. Investigators from 7 police agencies worked together to check a combined 81 offenders. The police agencies involved were the Oswego Police Department, Yorkville Police Department, Montgomery Police Department, Plano Police Department, Joliet Police Department, Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, United States Marshals Service in Northern Illinois and the United States Marshals Great Lakes Task Force. Investigators met at the Sheriff’s Office and received assignments for the initiative.

During the checks, investigators made contact with 37 offenders and completed a verification check on each. Investigators identified 5 offenders that were possibly in violation of the Sex Offender Registration Act and criminal investigations were opened into these allegations. In total, investigators checked 81 residences in three hours.

"The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office will fulfill its public safety responsibility by conducting sex offender compliance checks frequently," Sheriff Dwight Baird said. "By partnering with local and federal law enforcement agencies we maximize our resource effectiveness, improve communication and intelligence sharing to help ensure our communities are safe. We do this with the goals of deterring offenders from further criminal behavior, and increasing the safety of the community for the citizens."

The Sex Offender Registration Act places legal mandates on persons convicted of sex crimes. The act requires the sex offender to register his/her residence, employer, school, vehicles, and many other items with the police agency where they reside. The act also has stiff penalties for violations of the act. Persons required to register as Violent Offender Against Youths are persons who have been convicted of an offense listed in Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 154/5 when such charge results in the finding the offense was not sexually motivated. Most of these crimes are crimes against persons who are under the age of 18.

The objective of this operation was to verify information provided during the sex offender registration process and look for individuals who were not in compliance, as well as address any issues with proximity to schools, parks and daycares. Most sex offenders are only required to register with local law enforcement once every year, so it is important to conduct compliance checks to make sure we know where they are as often as possible.

Baird thanked the following law enforcement executives for supporting and sharing the responsibility of this initiative:

Chief Jeff Burgner Oswego Police Department
Chief Rich Hart Yorkville Police Department
Chief Jonathan Whowell Plano Police Department
Chief Phil Smith Montgomery Police Department
Chief Al Roechner Joliet Police Department
Chief Tom Smith United States Marshals Service

For more information on registered offenders in Kendall County, visit the Sheriff’s Office Offender Watch page or the Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registry.

Via Kendall County Sheriff's Office