(CN) - A registered sex offender was arrested and accused of threatening to kill Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Maurice Pennington Sr., 58, is charged with threatening a public official and is being held on $25,000 bail. Natalie Bauer, a spokeswoman for Madigan's office, told The Associated Press that Pennington made the threat in connection with a lawsuit he filed, challenging the constitutionality of the state's sex offender registry law.
Madigan was one of the people Pennington sued in his pro se complaint.
Pennington was convicted of rape in Illinois in 1982 and was convicted of sexually abusing a minor in Texas 10 years ago. When Pennington moved back to Illinois, he objected to being placed on the state's sex offender registry.
Follow @@joeharris_stlSubscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.