Sex offender loses bid for release after 29 years in prison

A McHenry County man who claims to have molested at least 56 children in the 1970s would commit more sex crimes if set free, a judge said today in rejecting the man's bid for partial release after more than 29 years in state custody.

The court decision declaring that David P. Hoffman remains a sexually dangerous person will keep the 48-year-old former Woodstock man locked up in a state prison while he continues to undergo treatment for numerous mental illnesses blamed for his propensity to molest children.

Judge Sharon Prather laid out those illnesses in her ruling today: paraphilia with indications of sadism; pedophilia with interest in boys and girls; and anti-social and narcissistic personality disorders.

"These mental conditions have existed in Mr. Hoffman since he was a child and they exist today," Prather said.

The judge noted that Hoffman himself said that if released to a halfway house, as he was requesting, it would have to be one located in a neighborhood without children.

"Mr. Hoffman continues to be a high risk for re-offending," Prather added. "All the evidence indicates that he would be likely to commit more offenses if released."

Hoffman's court-appointed attorney, Colin MacMeekin, said he would file a post-trial motion asking Prather to reconsider. If she refuses, Hoffman likely will appeal the ruling.

Hoffman has been in state custody since 1980, when he agreed to be declared a sexually dangerous person in connection with charges he repeatedly abused two teenage boys in the late 1970s.

Since then, a state psychiatrist testified at a Sept. 15 hearing, Hoffman has admitted to molesting at least 56 children, both boys and girls, ranging from 2 to 16 years old.

Despite his time behind bars, psychiatrists said, Hoffman still showed a sexual predisposition toward children. As recently as last year, prison authorities found magazine photographs of children in Hoffman's cell, some hidden within the pages of his Bible.

If Hoffman's appeal fails, he could again petition the court for his release in one year.