The Wrong Message

The following are excerpts from the Sun Times article on the Arbour Health Care Center housing convicted and registered juvenile sex offenders:

“Police determined that child sex offenders Angel Campos, James R. Carroll, Lynn Eichhorst and Gregory S. Kenlay should not live in the nursing home because it's within 500 feet of a playground, officials said.

A state inspection last week found that Arbour was not complying fully with a provision in the new law that requires nursing homes to house sex offenders in single-occupancy rooms to keep them from preying on vulnerable residents, officials said.

But Arbour seemed to be making an effort to comply with the spirit of the law, officials said.

Because of a lack of single-occupancy rooms, the nursing home housed the male sex offenders together in one room, while Eichhorst -- a woman convicted of having sex with three boys for whom she was baby-sitting -- was housed with other able-bodied women, authorities said.”













When I read this article yesterday, a few issues didn’t seem to make sense. First, Chicago Police clearly indicated that Arbour Health Care Center, which is located at 1512 West Fargo, was in violation of the “ within 500 feet” provision in the sex offender law. Yet state inspectors, according to the article, seemed to speak more about Arbour complying with the spirit of the law, when their inspection found several of the men living in the same room, which is apparently against state regulations.

Also, there seemed to be questions about how this park was used. Citing anonymous comments, investigators suggested that the small park was not used by kids in the neighborhood, but by adult dog walkers.

This out of the way park is 2 blocks from my house and I pass it all the time. Although it doesn’t have many kid friendly amenities as many other parks do and is basically an open lawn, I have seen kids playing in that park. I’ve seen the dog walkers and vagrants too. L. Dubkin Park is no different in how it is used than any other park. Besides, the sign clearly states “playground” as just about all other park signs do and there would be no other reason for an unsuspecting parent to think otherwise.

I walked off the distance this morning, from the entrance to the park, to the entrance to Arbour and it is approx. 300+- feet, door to door.

This law was written for good reasons and all the provisions should be complied with, to the letter, not just in spirit.

When officials who are responsible for upholding this law start splitting hairs citing vague reasons why this facility is complying with “the spirit” of the law or how a certain park is being used, they are sending the wrong message to victims, parents and our community.

Is it more important how the offenders are housed or where they are housed?

And btw, for those who live in the area, there is a registered juvenile sex offender listed on the CPD website on the 1500 block of Birchwood, which is also within 500 feet of L. Dubkin Park.

Gary Fuschi