JOLIET (IL)
The Beacon News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — A Joliet Diocese priest convicted of sexually abusing young boys could be confined indefinitely under the state's Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act.
The Rev. Fred Lenczycki, 61, was scheduled to be released from the Dixon Correctional Center today after serving less than half of a five-year sentence. But Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan petitioned a DuPage County judge on Monday to keep Lenczycki locked up, saying he remains a danger to society.
"Attorney General Madigan believes the Sexually Violent Persons Act is a critical tool in keeping sexually violent people off the streets," said Melissa Merz of the attorney general's office.
DuPage County Judge Edward Duncan ordered that Lenczycki be transferred to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services and be held at the sex offender facility in Joliet, Merz said.
The law allows the state to use civil proceedings to involuntarily commit sex offenders after they have served their criminal sentences.