Rapist back in jail accused of harassment
Stephen E. Mislich's freedom was short-lived.
The convicted rapist was being held in DuPage County jail on a $2 million bond after his arrest earlier this month on felony telephone harassment charges in Lisle.
Prosecutors sought the high bond because of the 44-year-old Chicago man's violent past. Except for the last few months, Mislich has been in prison since he was 17 for two sex attacks.
On July 7, 1980, he 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 Mislich was set free after posting 10 percent of a $300,000 bond. Then, in early November 1980, while still 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 out of the bathroom but fell near the front door. Mislich caught up to her and stabbed her up to 16 times. Neighbors called 911 after hearing her screams.
Mislich, formerly of Hazel Crest, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to both sex attacks and, on March 26, 1982, arrived at prison to begin serving a 36-year sentence.
He was due to be freed Aug. 6, 1998, after serving half his prison term, but prosecutors 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 to stay in a state mental treatment facility if prosecutors prove another crime is probable. So far, more than half the estimated 300 cases in which the 1998 law has been applied resulted in additional confinement.
A prison psychologist testified during Mislich's September 1998 civil commitment court proceedings that the defendant has an anti-social personality disorder and sexual sadism that make him at high risk to become a serial sex killer.
Mislich remained civilly committed in prison in a section maintained by the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services until July, when he was granted a conditional release. A free Mislich registered with police as a convicted sex offender.
Four months later, on Nov. 9, Lisle police came knocking on his apartment door at 6353 S. Kedzie Ave., in Chicago. They arrested him on telephone harassment charges on suspicion he made threats to rape and kill another woman who works in Lisle, with whom he was infatuated.
Mislich is due to appear before DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis Dec. 3. Meanwhile, Cook County prosecutors filed a petition Nov. 13 to revoke his conditional discharge based on the latest allegation.