Exonerated man's name pulled from sex offender website

10-28-2013 Illinois:

llinois State Police removed Carl Chatman's name from the sex offender registry this morning, following notification that Chatman had been exonerated in an alleged 2002 rape at the Daley Center and, thus, should not have been on the website.

The mistaken entry was identified after Berwyn police arrested Chatman Sunday because he was listed on the site as an unregistered sex offender.

Russell Ainsworth, who represented Carl Chatman in his wrongful conviction case, said the Berwyn Police Department held Chatman for about two hours, until Ainsworth was able to get to the station and provide documents proving the conviction had been thrown out.

"He is not required to register as a sex offender because he is not a sex offender," Ainsworth said.

It was not immediately clear why Chatman's name showed up on the Illinois sex offender registry website.

The registry is maintained by the Illinois State Police. Spokeswoman Monique Bond said they removed his name after being notified of the error Sunday by Berwyn police.

Bond said individuals on the registry or their lawyers should notify state police of any updates that could allow their names to be removed.

"If someone believes they are mistakenly placed on the list, they would contact us or the registering agency," Bond said.

Berwyn Police Cmdr. Joe Santangelo said the arrest was made as part of a routine sex offender compliance check. He said he planned to review the arrest Monday but believed the situation involved a records glitch.

Chatman's sister, Theresa, said her brother and she were getting ready for church when Berwyn police officers knocked on her door a little before 8 a.m. Theresa Chatman, who spent years trying to prove her brother's innocence, said the police told her they were looking for Carl Chatman.

"When I opened the door, they busted past me and then walked through the home to the kitchen," Theresa Chatman said. "(My brother) just had on his pajama pants drinking his coffee, and they had him in handcuffs."

She said she tried to explain to the police that her brother's conviction had been vacated and that she had the paperwork to prove it, but they arrested him anyway.

Chatman, 58, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for an alleged May 2002 rape of a county employee at the Daley Center. But last month, Cook County prosecutors made the stunning announcement that they doubted the credibility of the woman who brought the allegations against Chatman and no longer believed the sexual assault even took place.

Chatman, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a low IQ, was released from prison Sept. 10 after 11 years in custody. Since that time, Chatman has been living with his sister and her daughter in west suburban Berwyn.

Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office, said Berwyn police contacted the office about Chatman's case after they arrested him Sunday.

The state's attorney's office told police that Chatman's conviction had been vacated and that he was not required to register as a sex offender, said Daly, who added that she did not know how Chatman's name ended up on the site. The state's attorney's office is not required to notify state police of exonerations, she said.

"He shouldn't have been on the (sex offender) website," Daly said.

Ainsworth said the Berwyn Police Department told him that Chatman had been caught up in a sex offender sweep because he showed up as unregistered.

Police released Chatman around 10 a.m. and notified all Berwyn police officers of the situation, Ainsworth said.

Theresa Chatman said that since her brother's release, they have been trying to adjust to his life at home and his medication schedule and that the arrest Sunday did not help.

"We didn't think that every time we turned around and opened our door, there were going to be police there," Theresa Chatman said. "I mean, come on, when is it going to be over?" ..Source.. by Cynthia Dizikes