2 years for sex offender nabbed in forest preserve

A previously convicted sex offender has been sentenced to two years in prison for talking to two children last summer at a Wood Dale-area forest preserve.

Robert J. Calusinski, 59, of Elmhurst, pleaded guilty last month to a felony charge alleging he communicated with two minors at a public park in violation of his sex offender registry.

Police have said Calusinski was arrested about 8 p.m. on July 26 after a woman called 911 to report a combative man yelling at others fishing on a public pier at Wood Dale Grove Forest Preserve.

Although no one pressed charges in that incident, authorities said a responding officer remained in the park to monitor the situation and later saw Calusinski speak with a 6-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy, whose parents were nearby. He also was seen sniffing a rag soaked in paint thinner, police said.

Public documents show Calusinski is a registered sex offender whose criminal background includes a 1999 conviction for sexually abusing a neighbor's child on the victim's 6th birthday, and a 1983 conviction for indecent liberties with a child.

DuPage County Judge Robert Kleeman on Friday sentenced Calusinski to two years in prison in the latest case, court records show. The defendant was given credit for time served in the county jail since his arrest.