DeKalb, Illinois Has 32 Registered Sex Offenders

The Illinois State Police report that DeKalb, Illinois has 32 registered sex offenders living in town or adjacent to town.

In comparison to other Northern Illinois communities this is a high number. For example, Downers Grove has 12 offenders. Woodridge has 11. Naperville records 20 and Westmont counts 19. These are communites closer to Chicago, with higher populations, if the student population of DeKalb is not counted. Smaller, more rural towns closer to DeKalb have few registered offenders. Malta lists 2, Creston 2, and Genoa 7. Rochelle, which is directly west of DeKalb, has 17 offenders.

Rockford, which has a substantially larger population than DeKalb, records 498. And Aurora has 187.

Geneva, Illinois, which is about 30 minutes directly east of DeKalb, has 28 offenders, closer to DeKalb's total than most communities; however, many of those offenders reside in the Kane County Jail, or are listed as residents of the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Just why DeKalb has more than its share is unclear.

The State Police update this information frequently, giving the addresses, photographs, and convictions of the perpetrators, along with the date of the offence and the age of the victim. The emphasis is on offenders who assaulted children. In DeKalb, two of the offenders are women; the rest are men. The State Police also make available a map, showing the locations of the offenders, and whether or not they are compliant with the law. This means that the offender is required to register with the local police. Those who are not compliant are listed as Location Unknown.

Nine of 32 offenders in DeKalb are listed in red as Sexual Predators. In Illinois, according to the Illinois State Police, a predator is defined as guilty of one or more of the following: Keeping a Place of Juvenile Prostitution; Juvenile Pimping; Exploitation of a Child; Child Pornography; Criminal Sexual Assault, if the victim is under age 12; Criminal Sexual Assault, regardless of the victim's age (if convicted on or after January 1,2006); Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault; Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault; Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse;Ritualized Abuse of a Child; Conviction of first degree murder, when the victim was a person under 18 years of age and the defendant was at least 17 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense; Certified as a Sexually Dangerous Person pursuant to the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act or any substantially similar federal, sister state, or foreign country law; Found to be Sexually Violent pursuant to the Sexually Violent Commitment Act or any substantially similar federal, sister state, or foreign country law; Convicted of a 2nd or subsequent offense, after July 1, 1999 which would require registration pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act; or A conviction for an offense of federal law, Uniform Code of Military Justice, law of another state or foreign country that is substantially equivalent to any of the these offenses listed above.

Sexual Predators are required to register annually for their natural life."

The Illinois State Police make this information available to the public; residents must click on a disclaimer, acknowledging that they are aware that it is unlawful to harass registered sex offenders.

Illinois Sex Offender Information, Illinois State Police.