Naperville molester to leave prison early

After a Naperville man admitted to molesting an underage girl he met on the Internet, his then-fiancee and her shocked family urged the judge to hand down a tough sentence.

They wanted John R. Wentworth to spend the maximum allowable time of seven years in prison.

In April, the former Boy Scout with no previous criminal history was sentenced to a 42-month stint in the Illinois River Correctional Center.

But he is expected to be paroled on Saturday, after earning credit for good behavior and for serving time before his sentence.

To protest his release, about 30 sexual assault survivors, residents and concerned parents -- including the sister of Wentworth's former fiancee -- gathered Thursday at the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton. They passed out fliers with tips on Internet safety.

The group is urging judges and prosecuting attorneys to hand out and request maximum sentences for child predators.

"We need to keep our children safe," said Angela Rose, a sexual assault survivor and event organizer. "With the continued early release of predators, that does not send any message of deterrence."

That Wentworth, 29, earned points for good behavior is "ironic," she said, considering there is no Internet access in prison.

One in three girls will be sexually abused before they turn 18, she said, and she believes she has a responsibility to be "the voice for all who have been silenced by violence."

Wentworth was arrested in May 2006 after a girl he contacted through MySpace alerted police, who set up a sting. They discovered he had used the social networking site to reach out to as many as 50 girls a day, including one as young as 10.

Authorities tracked down the identities of dozens of girls, and one, who was 15 at the time, said he fondled her once in her home.

In March, he pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse and indecent solicitation.

"He has paid his debt to society," his attorney Steven Kozicki said Thursday. "He's fulfilled the sentence under the law."

The protesters are "entitled to their opinion," he said, "but if they want to complain about something, they should go to the legislature and get the law changed."

Wentworth, who plans to move to California upon his release, will have to register as a sex offender for life, a burning "scarlet letter," Kozicki said.

Courtney Havlik, the sister of Wentworth's former fiancee, said they're demanding maximum sentences for child predators because "our children deserve better than this."

Her sister, Claire Liptrot, is "the sweetest girl with a heart of gold," she said, who had no knowledge of who her fiance really was. "It was the biggest slap in the face," she said.

Liptrot has publicly shared her experience to try to help others. "She said, 'It might dredge up bad memories,' " Havlik said, " 'but if it helps one other person to not be a victim, I've done my job.'"