Formerly committed sex offender loses ruling concerning phone threats

(Original Post 4-21-08)
A sex offender civilly committed for 9 years after serving a 18 year term for sexually assaulting two women at age 17 has had charges for harassing a woman who wroked at the civil commitment facility upheld. Stephen Mislich, 44, was originally convicted in 1980 of raping two women, with the second rape occuring while he was out on bond for the 1st rape.

The second rape, according to a 1998 article, featured a then 17 year old Mislich gaining entry to a woman's house posing as a election pollster before raping and stabbing the victim in her bathtub about 15 times. He was committed in the summer of 1998, and spent 9 years in treatment before being released last July. Stories from 1998 showed a man who fantasized about killing women.

Mislich became obsessed with the former worker in 2002, while she worked at the facility. She no longer works there, and Mislich is charged with making death threats against her.

During Monday's hearing, Assistant State's Atty. Liam Brennan told Judge George Bakalis that in 2002, Mislich threatened to kill the woman or a family member. In a November telephone call, Brennan said, the defendant reportedly stated: "This is Stephen Mislich. I am out of prison and I know where you work."

He was arrested in November and charged with telephoning a former female state mental health worker with whom he was acquainted, which made her to feel threatened, authorities said.

Assistant Public Defender Jaime Escuder asked that the indictment be dropped, arguing that the alleged 2002 threat and the 2007 telephone call were too far removed from each other to be legally sufficient to sustain the criminal charge. "The phone call in itself wasn't a threat," Escuder said.Brennan disagreed, saying the evidence to the grand jury was sufficient to secure an indictment.

Brennan disagreed, saying the evidence to the grand jury was sufficient to secure an indictment."We didn't present all the evidence to the grand jury," he said. "The court hasn't heard all the evidence."

Judge Bakalis ruled that though the state had enough evidence for a grand jury to return an indictment, "This is an interesting question, and the state still has to prove their case at trial."

The state is petitioning the re-commitment of Mischlich as a sexually violent person. He is being held on $2 million bail.

(Update 7-23-08)

Mishlich was ordered to undergo 2 more months of inpatient treatment before being released on September 22. Prosecutors agreed to the deal after it became clear that they did not have enough evidence to recommit him.

The Daily Herald has more about Mishlich's past.

On July 7, 1980, a 17-year-old Mislich forced a woman to perform a sexual act after pushing his way into her car outside a Cook County mall. Mislich then made her cash her paycheck at a bank and dropped her off at a tollbooth before fleeing with her money and car.

Police arrested him but, four months later, while he was free on bond, Mislich posed as an Election Day pollster to gain entry into a Country Club Hills home. Inside, he raped the female homeowner at knifepoint, forced her into a bathtub and tried to electrocute her by throwing a hair dryer into the water.

She escaped from the bathroom but fell near the front door. Mislich caught up to her and stabbed the woman up to 16 times. Neighbors called 911 after hearing her screams. She survived her injuries.

Mislich pleaded guilty but mentally ill to both sex attacks. On March 26, 1982, he began a 36-year prison term. He was due to be released Aug. 6, 1998, after serving half his prison term, but authorities convinced a Cook County judge to have Mislich detained indefinitely under a state law for those deemed sexually violent.

The law allows authorities to force sex offenders such as Mislich to stay in a state mental treatment facility if prosecutors prove another crime is probable.

An expert testified at Mislich's civil commitment hearing in September 1998 that he suffers from anti-social personality disorder and sexual sadism that make him a high risk to become a serial sex killer.

He remained civilly committed in a state facility until July 2007, when he was granted a conditional release as long as he registered with police as a sex offender and wore a GPS tracking device for monitoring. Furthermore, Mislich began a voluntary process to be chemically castrated, a temporary form of castration induced by hormonal medicines, to control his deviant urges.