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Posted: Wednesday, 04 November 2009 9:46AM
11,000 Sex Offenders Taken Off State Registry
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- According to Illinois State Police officials, 11,000 sex offenders were removed from the state registry just in the last two years. Any one of them could be living in your neighborhood and you would not know it.
When Mindy was just 7 years old, she was abducted and sexually assaulted. Her attacker is one of the offenders not on the list. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, as an adult, she's on a mission to change that.
"I just started praying out loud and he kept telling me to shut up," said Mindy, who doesn't want to use her full name.
Mindy is on a mission to help protect children from what happened to her near her home when she was 7 years old.
"I just felt him grab me, pick me up and he threw me in his car," said Mindy
On October 19, 1980, a complete stranger, James Kurtzer, abducted her off the streets of suburban Niles.
"I was really scared at that point, like really, really scared," Mindy said.
According to police reports, Kurtzer took Mindy in his car to an industrial park in Niles and bound her with electrical tape.
Mindy broke down in tears when she described the sexual assault and said she kept trying to remember details about his face.
Kurtzer was arrested five days later and eventually convicted of sexually assaulting Mindy.
Recently she felt victimized again when discovered that Kurtzer is not, and never was, on the State of Illinois Sex Offender Registry.
"How could they not have him on a list? It just blows my mind," Mindy said.
In fact, the 2 Investigators learned sex offenders who finished serving their prison time prior to July of 1999 are not on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, which means they don't have to tell police where they live or work.
"They're out there and you don't know it," Mindy said.
Mindy, who now has children of her own, wants a new law that tracks all sex offenders.
Sam Fucarino was one of the original detectives for Niles who worked on the case that led to Kurtzer's arrest.
"Trying to get this law changed is a valid fight," Fucarino said.
Fucarino says Niles Police try to keep an eye on offenders like Kurtzer, but it's difficult if they're not on the registry.
The 2 Investigators found Kurtzer still living in Niles. Kurtzer said he's never assaulted any other children. He declined the opportunity to answer numerous questions about the case.
Kurtzer said he was well aware of the law that requires sex offenders to be on a registry. He says he also knew he was not required to be on the registry because the law did not cover the time frame involving his prison sentence which ended in 1983.
When asked if he would be willing to voluntarily submit his name to the registry, Kurtzer said, "Not at this time, no. Why should I? I missed it. I'm sort of glad I missed it."
Mindy decided she wanted to talk to Kurtzer for the first time since the attack. He apologized for the crime but disagreed with her mission to change the law.
Mindy wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
"That's the most important thing. It needs to change for the safety of our children," Mindy said.
Prior to 1999, the sex offender registry included thousands of offenders that only needed to remain on the list for 10 years. So, now they are free to keep their address anonymous.
Older offenders like Kurtzer never had to be on a list because the registry didn't exist prior to 1996. Mindy would like to see the law change and she is working with state lawmakers interested in her case.
If you have questions about how the current registry works, click here.
For a link to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, click here.
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Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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