Sex offender gets deal, to undergo therapy after call to Lisle woman
A serial rapist accused of making a harassing telephone call to a woman at her Lisle office shortly after he won his freedom will undergo two months of inpatient treatment before being released again.
Stephen E. Mislich had spent more than 25 years in prison for two violent sex crimes when, just four months after his release, Lisle police arrested him on felony telephone harassment charges.
Prosecutors contend the 45-year-old Chicago man on Nov. 9 called a woman with whom he was infatuated and stated that he was "out of prison and I know where you work" before abruptly hanging up.
Citing weak evidence, state and county prosecutors reached a deal Tuesday with the defense in which they dropped charges in exchange that Mislich undergo 60 days of sex offender treatment at a secured state facility. Afterward, he will be set free again on a monitored release program.
His attorney argued there was insufficient evidence to prove Mislich made the call or that it rose to the level of a threat. The grand jury that indicted Mislich also was told of his violent past, which his attorney said was prejudicial.
On July 7, 1980, a 17-year-old Mislich 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, four months later, while he was 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 the woman up to 16 times. Neighbors called 911 after hearing her screams. She survived her injuries.
Mislich pleaded guilty but mentally ill to both sex attacks. On March 26, 1982, he began a 36-year prison term. He was due to be released Aug. 6, 1998, after serving half his prison term, but authorities 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 such as Mislich to stay in a state mental treatment facility if prosecutors prove another crime is probable.
An expert testified at Mislich's civil commitment hearing in September 1998 that he suffers from anti-social personality disorder and sexual sadism that make him a high risk to become a serial sex killer.
He remained civilly committed in a state facility until July 2007, when he was granted a conditional release as long as he registered with police as a sex offender and wore a GPS tracking device for monitoring. Furthermore, Mislich began a voluntary process to be chemically castrated, a temporary form of castration induced by hormonal medicines, to control his deviant urges.
After his arrest last winter, Cook County prosecutors filed a petition to revoke his conditional release. He remained in jail on a $2 million bond. As part of Tuesday's deal, before DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis, Mislich agreed he violated terms of the release and needs more treatment. He will be a free man Sept. 22.