In re Rufus T.

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In re Rufus T.

State: Illinois

Court: 2nd District Appellate

Docket No: 2-09-0986 Rel

Case Date: 05/12/2011

Preview:No. 2--09--0986 Opinion filed May 12, 2011 ______________________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________ In re RUFUS T., a Minor ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of Winnebago County. ) ) No. 98--JD--166 ) ) Honorable (The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner- ) K. Patrick Yarbrough, Appellee, v. Rufus T., Respondent-Appellant). ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE SCHOSTOK delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Zenoff and Birkett concurred in the judgment and opinion. OPINION On October 19, 1999, the respondent, Rufus T., was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent based on an admission of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of nine (720 ILCS 5/8--4(a), 12--14(b)(i) (West 1998)). The respondent was required to register as a sex offender. On July 2, 2008, the respondent filed a pro se petition for removal from the sex offender registry. On August 31, 2009, the trial court denied the petition. The respondent appeals from that order. We affirm. On September 27, 1999, the State filed a delinquency petition charging the respondent, then age 15, with attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 9. On October 19, 1999, the respondent admitted the charge. On that same day, the respondent was adjudicated delinquent, made a ward of the court, and committed to the Juvenile Department of Corrections

No. 2--09--0986 (JDOC). The respondent was required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (Act) (730 ILCS 150/1 et seq. (West 2000)). See Pub. Act 91--48 (eff. July 1, 1999) (amending 730 ILCS 150/2 (West 1998)); see also In re J.W., 204 Ill. 2d 50, 66 (2003) (holding that "juvenile sex offenders" fall within the purview of section 3 of the Act and are required to register). On July 2, 2008, the respondent filed a pro se petition, pursuant to section 3--5(c) of the Act (730 ILCS 150/3--5(c) (West 2008)), to terminate the term during which he must register as a sex offender. After finding the respondent indigent, the trial court appointed a public defender to represent the respondent. On October 6, 2008, defense counsel requested 10 days to file an updated petition. She also told the court that she believed section 3--5(e) of the Act (730 ILCS 150/3--5(e) (West 2008)) required a current risk assessment to be provided to the trial court and that she would consult her supervisors to determine if there were any financial provisions available to the respondent for such an assessment. On December 22, 2008, the respondent filed an amended petition alleging that he was 13 years old at the time of the offense, he had been registered as a sex offender for more than five years, had completed sex offender counseling, had no other history of delinquency, and had demonstrated that he was a responsible member of society. For those reasons, the respondent alleged that he posed no threat to the community and requested that he be removed from the sex offender registration list. On January 5, 2009, defense counsel again addressed the risk assessment. Specifically, defense counsel informed the trial court that, due to budget constraints, the public defender's office could not pay for a risk assessment. Additionally, she had been informed by the chief judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit that neither the court nor the county would pay for such an evaluation.

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No. 2--09--0986 Defense counsel opined that the statute did not have provisions for paying for a risk assessment for an indigent. The trial court granted defense counsel's request for additional time for the respondent and his mother to decide whether they could pay for a risk assessment. On August 19, 2009, a hearing was held on the petition. The respondent did not present a risk assessment. The respondent testified that he was 25 years old and lived with his mother in Rockford. He acknowledged that, when he was 14 or 15 years old, he pled guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault and was declared a delinquent minor. The victim was a family friend who was about three years old. He was 15 years old when he was committed to the JDOC. While incarcerated, he completed sex offender treatment programs provided by juvenile facilities in Harrisburg and Kewanee. He participated in the treatment programs for 2

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