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  Pedophile Priest Released after Serving Sentence

By Art Barnum
Chicago Tribune
September 25, 2009

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-lenczkcki-priest-released-25sep25,0,6059553.story

A Roman Catholic priest who sexually abused as many as 30 boys, many from Chicago's suburbs, was freed from state custody Thursday morning and registered later in the day as a child sex offender in Forest Park, where he will live, officials said.

Fred Lenczycki, 65, the first priest in the country to be declared sexually violent, left the DuPage County Courthouse after Judge Bonnie Wheaton signed off on a release plan that includes outpatient treatment for his sexual addiction.

"There will be a lot of people watching you," Wheaton told Lenczycki. "You have a heavy responsibility. You owe it to the people who were young -- the victims -- you owe them the responsibility. Don't disappoint them."

Forest Park Deputy Police Chief Tom Aftanas said Lenczycki will be required to register with the Police Department every three months.

Aftanas declined to give Lenzycki's address, but said officers will be keeping close tabs on him "as long as he is there." Aftanas said precautions are being taken for residents' safety as well as Lenzycki's.

Lenczycki will be under home confinement for at least 30 days and then be required to wear a GPS ankle bracelet.

Lenczycki was sentenced to five years in prison in 2004 after pleading guilty to sexually abusing three boys in Hinsdale in the 1980s. He was due to be released after 2 1/2 years but remained in custody after a DuPage jury in 2008 declared him sexually violent under provisions of a state law.

Prosecutors said Lenczycki admitted abusing as many as 30 youths in the Chicago area and in California and Missouri. Lenczycki is technically still a priest, church officials have said, but he can never function in any capacity as a priest.

Contact: abarnum@tribune.com

 
 

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