'Pedophile Palace' Increases To 8? Will Joliet Close It Down In 2023?

JOLIET, IL —Seven months after Joliet Patch broke the news of Cunningham Neighborhood's so-called "Pedophile Palace," as many as eight convicted child sexual predators may be residing at 1000 Cora St., according to the Illinois State Police sex offender registry.

In the meantime, the city of Joliet just tore down a fire-damaged house about a block away in the hope of building a neighborhood park on the property — with the expectation that NewDay Apartments would need to move the registered sex offenders out of 1000 Cora St.

In May, Patch reported that five child sexual predators who have no ties to Joliet were continuing to adjust to their new surroundings at 1000 Cora Street, and their presence in the Cunningham Neighborhood was sparking outrage from several political candidates.

The Cora Street property is owned by a Lake Zurich company called NewDay Apartments. New Day focuses on finding affordable housing for convicted sex offenders who have finished serving their prison sentences at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

On Thursday, Joliet Patch found that eight convicted sexual predators are now listed by the Illinois State Police as residing at 1000 Cora St., an increase of three from May.

One of the child sex offenders profiled in Joliet Patch's June article, Brian Angel, no longer lives here, according to the registry. Angel has relocated to Eldred, Illinois. Meanwhile, four of the other sex offenders are still listed as living at the Cora Street address.

In addition, there are four new men classified as being sexual predators who show a current Joliet address of 1000 Cora St.

The four new occupants are:

Vladimir Ceber:

According to the state police registry, Vladimir Ceber is 35 years old, and he committed predatory criminal sexual assault in Cook County when he was 26 and his victim was 9 years old. The Illinois Department of Corrections website indicates Ceber was paroled from the Stateville Correctional Center north of Joliet in September.

Luis Pereira:

Luis Pereira turns 58 in January. The Illinois State Police registry indicates Pereira was convicted of predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse in DuPage County. Pereira was 41 when he committed his crimes, and his victim was 6 years old.

Juan Ferreras:

Juan Ferreras, now 51 years old, was convicted in Cook County of criminal sexual assault/victim 13 to 17, indecent solicitation of a child, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault. The sex offender registry does not list Ferreras' age at the time of his crimes, but it states his victim was 11 years old.

James Stricken:

Although the Illinois State Police registry indicates it does not have a current photo of James Stricken, Joliet Patch found several mugshots of him in the Will County Jail from recent years.

The registry lists several aliases for the 62-year-old Stricken; he also goes by James Strickens, James Fleming, James VanHook and June Bug X. The Will County Jail booking logs listed all the same aliases for him except for June Bug X.

Stricken recently spent more than one year in the Will County Jail, between 2020 and 2021, after being arrested by the Will County Sheriff's Office on several felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a gun.

According to the registry, Stricken was 33 years old, and his victim was less than 1 year old when he committed criminal sexual assault/force, here in Will County, in 1993. At the time of his subsequent 2020 weapons arrest, Stricken had lived in the 200 block of Joliet's Third Avenue.

House Demolished, Playground Next?

Last fall, the Joliet City Council agreed to purchase a vacant fire-damaged house at the corner of Moran and Center Streets. City officials surmised that building a neighborhood park and playground would force NewDay to close its sex offender apartment on Cora, because sex offenders are prohibited from living within 500 feet of playgrounds in Illinois.

Over the past two weeks, the house was demolished by Grosshening, a Joliet-area company.

During an interview Thursday, John Sheridan, president of the Cunningham Neighborhood Association, said it's his belief the new playground should be in use around June.

He said he's hoping the new park includes playground equipment rather than just a pathway with a couple of benches for people to sit.

"That makes it more of a playground rather than a flower garden and benches," he said.

Even once the new neighborhood park opens, Sheridan predicted that NewDay Apartments will not immediately move out the sexual predators. He expects the city's efforts to remove the sex offenders at 1000 Cora Street may take some time and become a protracted legal battle.

"They're not fools," Sheridan said of NewDay Apartments. "The mayor made some threats to get them out of town, but ... I don't see them moving out."

Sheridan said he rarely sees any of the sexual predators outside. In October, he saw one of the men cutting the grass in the front yard. "I never see them," he said.

Sheridan did point out that one of the apartment dwellers closest to the corner of Cora and Moran has covered his entire window with aluminum foil, which is unusual.

Sheridan said he wonders if the tenant does not have enough money to buy curtains or whether "they're trying to keep the space aliens away."

In any event, Sheridan said he planned to call a Joliet Police Department detective to figure out how many registered sexual predators are living at 1000 Cora St.

He said it's possible there are fewer than eight, but perhaps, because of processing delays, the Illinois State Police website may still have some men listed there, even though they moved elsewhere, Sheridan said.

"But I don't know if there are two beds to an apartment," Sheridan said.

As of Dec. 30, 2022, the Illinois State Police registry showed:

Rochelle "Rocky" Taylor, age 60, and James Stricken, 62, both occupying Apartment 1.

Arturo Arce, age 54, and Luis Pereira, age 57, both occupying Apartment 2.

Juan Ferreras, age 51, occupying Apartment 4.

Vladimir Ceber, age 35, occupying Apartment 4A

Richard Rheinschmidt, age 77, and Darnell Thompson, age 39, both occupying Apartment 5.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

'Pedophile Palace' Won't Stay On Cora Street, O'Dekirk Reveals

'Pedophile Palace' In Joliet: Republican Candidates Vow Action

5 Sexual Predators Move Into Joliet West Side Neighborhood