State Let Rapist Roam Loose, Women Say

CHICAGO (CN) - Illinois and its contractors did a miserable job of monitoring a paroled rapist, allowing him to walk out of a halfway house and violently rape two more victims, the women say in Cook County Court.

The women say Julius Anderson was ordered to wear a GPS tracking monitor while paroled to St. Leonard's Ministries, after serving two prison terms for violent rapes. They say his "monitoring" consisted of being told to wear an electronic bracelet, which he removed so he could rape again.

Anderson was charged with sexual assault in 1973. He had "a history of mental illness, which includes hearing voices and having uncontrollable urges," and was considered not fit to stand trial, the complaint states. He spent time in a mental health facility before being sentenced to 4 years in jail.

Upon his release, Anderson "returned to raping and robbing females," and was convicted again in 1979 and sentenced to 30 years at the Big Muddy River Correctional Facility, according to the complaint.

"During the time he was incarcerated, he committed ninety-nine infractions, including stabbing and arson," the women say.

When Anderson became eligible for parole, he was evaluated by Dr. Barry Leavitt with Affiliated Psychologists - both of them defendants now. The women say they recommended that Anderson be released. The defendant Illinois Department of Corrections negligently failed to request a petition to commit Anderson because of his violent history, the women say.

Anderson was sent to defendant St. Leonard's Ministries, a halfway house on the West Side of Chicago, where he was to be monitored by a "Global Positioning System."

St. Leonard's knew that it "was not equipped to handle a GPS monitoring," and he was "instead placed on a less stringent monitoring device, an electronic monitoring bracelet... [which] does not track movements," the complaint states.

In August this year, the victims say, Anderson removed the bracelet and escaped from the halfway house. The police were not notified that he was missing and the Department of Corrections did not assign a "special agent" to look for him until 12 days later, the women say.

During that time, one woman says Anderson grabbed her while she was leaving a cab, dragged her into an alley and sexually assaulted her "for over thirty minutes."

In early September, Anderson attacked the second woman, who was walking to her boyfriend's apartment at night. Anderson threatened her with a knife, forced her into the apartment, and sexually assaulted her for more than an hour, she says. Her boyfriend was not at home.

The police found Anderson because he had stole the second woman's cell phone, and he was charged with both attacks, according to the complaint.

The women seek punitive damages for battery, false imprisonment, negligence, wantonness and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

They are represented by the Dolan Law Offices.

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