Sex offender ruled sexually violent, will stay in custody

CHICAGO (AP) - A registered sex offender in Chicago has been deemed a sexually violent person by a Cook County jury.

Following Thursday's verdict, Judge Peggy Chiampas (chee-AHM'-pahs) ordered 58-year-old Leroy Brown to remain in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services for treatment.

In a statement, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Brown previously fled the state to avoid being held accountable for his crimes. She added the jury recognized allowing Brown to re-enter society would "greatly jeopardize the public's safety."

According to Madigan's office, Brown in 1984 was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Minnesota for raping a woman at knifepoint. He was also convicted of a Chicago rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison in Illinois.

In 1996, Brown was convicted in Illinois of breaking into a neighbor's apartment and sexually assaulting a sleeping child younger than 13.