Sex offenders accidentally allowed to live too close to Lombard park

Two convicted child sex offenders have been living near a Lombard park because it didn't appear on a map used by police to register the offenders' addresses.

Child sex offenders cannot live within 500 feet of parks, schools and other places where children congregate, according to state law.

"It's on us," said Lombard police Lt. Tom Wirsing. "We should have realized that was a park."

Wirsing said the park has been added to the department's map after the Daily Herald inquired about the situation.

One offender recently moved to Villa Park after police notified him of the housing violation. Meanwhile, Wirsing said they are working with the second offender to expedite his move.

The .2-acre park is located south of Edson and Morris avenues. It features a basketball court and a small playground. The village owns the property, but leases it to the Lombard Park District. The park is only 66 feet wide and rests on what would essentially be Edson Avenue if it continued south to Ann Street from Morris.

"This one got under our radar," Wirsing said.

Nicholas F. Massino has been living at 333 W. Edward St. since he was sentenced to two years probation in March 2008 after he pleaded guilty to indecent solicitation of a child. He was caught in a 2006 Internet sting by detectives posing as a 14-year-old girl. The property line of the house where Massino lives is 490 feet from the park, Wirsing said. Police have notified him that he needs to move.

"We have to give him a reasonable amount of time to move out," he said.

Massino's residency likely was checked at least a half dozen times in the year and a half since his sentencing by Lombard police, Massino's probation officer and a DuPage County Sheriff's office sex offender registration and enforcement task force. However, it's only the police department's job to make sure his living arrangement is compliant, officials said.

"If (probation officers) were aware of noncompliance we would notify the police department," said Pat Hayden, DuPage County's deputy court administrator.

Hayden said the frequency of residency checks by the probation department are based on risk level. Sex offenders are considered high risk, she said. She would not say how many times probation officers visited Massino at his home, but said sex offenders are visited "generally more than four times a year."

Justin S. Lee recently moved to Villa Park after police notified him of the violation. The parking lot of his former apartment at 1155 S. Finley Road abuts Edson Park. He was convicted of misdemeanor criminal sexual abuse of a child in March of this year and received 30 days in jail and two years probation. He had sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 19, according to court records.

Det. Dave Sand, who heads the DuPage County Sheriff's Sexual Predator Enforcement Apprehension and Registration task force, said this is the first case he's heard of in 10 years where a mapping issue led to sex offenders living too close to a park.

"We obviously depend on the public, as in this case, who came forward to tell us there was a park there," he said.

Residents can check the proximity of sex offenders by visiting the sheriff's Web site at dupageco.org/sheriff and clicking on "sex offender registry" and following the prompts.

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