Violent sex offender will stay in jail for now

A DuPage County judge ruled Monday that a history of purported threats made by a violent, two-time sex offender was enough to qualify a phone call to a former state employee as a felony.

Circuit Court Judge George Bakalis denied a motion to dismiss the felony harassment case against 44-year-old Stephen E. Mislich.

A bench trial was scheduled for June 6.

Prosecutors contend Mislich, of Chicago, called a woman he met while incarcerated at her new job in Lisle and stated that he was "out of prison and I know where you work" before abruptly hanging up.

The woman said that call occurred in November, four months after Mislich had been released from prison.

Mislich's attorney, Jaime Escuder, argued that there was no evidence Mislich made that call and the message didn't rise to the level of a threat.

"The prosecution even concedes that when it's considered in a vacuum, the statement is not harassment," Escuder said.

But Bakalis argued that the recent phone call combined with threatening statements prosecutors said Mislich made about the woman and her husband to another inmate in 2002 amounted to harassment and ordered a trial.

Mislich has been voluntarily undergoing a chemical castration process that blocks testosterone from being produced. It is unclear whether he can continue that treatment while incarcerated at the DuPage County jail, attorneys from both sides said.

Mislich has spent more than 25 years behind bars for two violent sex crimes and had been in a monitored release program at the time of his arrest.

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. Four months later, while still 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 her up to 16 times. Neighbors called 911 after hearing screams. She survived her injuries.

He is being held on $2 million bond because of his past, prosecutors said.