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	Convicted Priest Not Free Yet By Ted Slowik The Herald News April 11, 2006 http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/top/4_1_JO11_PRIEST_S1.htm 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 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. The state will still have to provide proof that Lenczycki is sexually violent and present evidence at a hearing. Experts hired by the state have evaluated Lenczycki and concluded he is likely to offend again, Merz said. The judge on Monday set a May 1 status hearing to allow Lenczycki's attorneys to identify other experts to evaluate the priest. No date has been set yet for the triallike commitment hearing. Lenczycki pleaded guilty in January 2004 to criminal sexual abuse of three boys under age 13. The abuse occurred in late 1984 at St. Isaac Jogues Church in Hinsdale. Lenczycki is the first clergy member in Illinois to be involuntarily committed under the law, Merz said. The state moved sex offenders to the former Joliet Correctional Center Annex in 2000 after the program outgrew a facility in Sheridan. In February, the state announced plans to move the detainees to an unused prison in Rushville this summer. The program houses about 230 detainees. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1997 allowed Kansas to involuntarily commit sex offenders who had completed their prison sentences. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of Joliet detainees who claimed they were being treated unfairly. A judge upheld the state's right to detain individuals, but the ACLU said conditions at the facility improved as a result of the lawsuit. • Contact Ted Slowik at (815) 729-6053 or at tslowik@scn1.com.
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