Sex Offender Apartment In Joliet Can't Be Stopped: Capparelli

JOLIET, IL — Days after Joliet Patch published an exclusive story revealing the Cunningham Neighborhood on Joliet's west side now has five out of town sexual predators living together at 1000 Cora St., Joliet's city manager said there are no plans to take drastic actions against NewDay, the company expanding its sex offender housing program across Illinois.

Based in Lake Zurich, NewDay has a professionally designed website that says the company makes sure all of its housing units in Illinois comply with state laws for sex offenders. NewDay's website proclaims, "NewDay Makes Communities Safer. Period."

"NewDay works with local law enforcement to keep registrants on the right side of the law," its website reads. "All properties are IL Department of Corrections approved & buffer-zone compliant."

The company's website announced on May 12 that it is now looking to expand its sex offender housing program into Winnebago County's largest city, Rockford.

"NewDay real estate agents are currently looking at properties in Winnebago County and plan to have units available for rent by Summer 2022. Check our blog for updates."

On Thursday afternoon, Joliet Patch interviewed Joliet City Manager Jim Capparelli, who was a lawyer in private practice for several years at the Castle Law group.

Capparelli said he also just found about the NewDay sex offender apartment building at 1000 Cora St. this past week. The company bought the gray apartment building in December, according to Will County property records.

Capparelli said it's his understanding that NewDay only has the one residential housing property in Joliet at the moment. He does not believe Joliet can shut down the sex offender apartment building. The place appears to be complying with all applicable laws, Capparelli said.

"They didn't need a zoning variance," Capparelli told Joliet Patch. "There's nothing we can do. They need to follow all the measures of the law, and if they don't, we would certainly take appropriate action."

Will NewDay move forward with plans to add several more sex offender houses or apartments to Joliet's west side, east side or the far west side near Plainfield?

That remains to be seen.

If NewDay opts to bring several more registered sex offenders into Joliet for their permanent residency, Capparelli said he's hopeful the company would sit down and meet with city leaders to discuss that.

Capparelli said he was never informed ahead of time of NewDay's plans to acquire the apartment building at the corner of Cora and Moran Streets for the five sexual predators who are now living there.

The most recent addition to 1000 Cora St. is 53-year-old Arturo Arce. On May 6, Arce was paroled from the Danville Correctional Center, where he served an 11-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2012 of predatory criminal sexual assault in Kane County.

Arce was 44 and his victim was 13. Arce is 5-foot-5 and weighs 226. At the moment, the Illinois State Police's convicted sex offender registry lists Arce as being non-compliant.

"I would certainly like to know of any future expansion plans," Capparelli remarked.

Joliet Patch's May 24 article about the sexual predator apartment building on Cora Street drew several hundred reader comments and Facebook shares.

Here's a small sampling of the readers' comments:

"In all honesty, if this was my block I would be one of the fathers that walked and patrolled that street during passing of the children walking to and from school. The fathers in the area need to get together and assign days for patrols amongst themselves. Cannot ever rely on the local politicians or 'leaders' to do anything."

"With their background, they place them to live a few blocks away from a school!!!!!! Like seriously. Parents please walk or drive your children to school and always keep them in close distance. It makes no sense they sure did not think this one through."

"This is unacceptable. These people are criminals who prey on children. They should not be allowed to live near anyplace where they may make contact with children. I would not want them in my neighborhood. This group who are providing the apartments should be forced to close down this farce. Why don't the owners of the building move these criminals next door to their homes."

"People always have a right to be concerned when this kind of crap is dumped into their lap without any input from the law-abiding neighbors. I don’t see how any type of zoning justifies a bunch of sick men being unloaded on a neighborhood full of children. Citizens really need to take a hard look at just what is going on around here and who is responsible for it. Bet the building owner makes a ton of money from housing these criminals. And, I noticed, all from out of the area. Nothing like taking in other’s problems when we have enough of our own."