7 Sex Offenders In Lake Bluff, 4 In Lake Forest: 2021 Safety Map

LAKE FOREST-LAKE BLUFF, IL — There are seven sex offenders registered as living in Lake Bluff and four in Lake Forest, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

That's the same number of registered sex offenders in both communities compared to a year earlier, although some new offenders have replaced those who have departed on the registry maintained by Illinois State Police.

Ten of the 11 offenders are considered sexual predators, who are required by law to register annually with state police for the rest of their lives.

Find where sex offenders are registered as living in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff below. Pins on the map represent addresses of offenders convicted of sex crimes. Roll your cursor over the pins, and you will see more information pop up, including the registered sex offender's name, address, date of birth and convictions.

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Two Lake Forest men were listed as non-compliant with registration requirements. They include Edward Kent, 80, was convicted of child pornography charges after he was found to have child sexual abuse material depicting victims as young as 10 when he was aged 67, and Vincent McCaffery, 69, who was convicted of having child sexual abuse material depicting a 14-year-old when he was aged 49, according to the registry. However, Lake Forest police said the two men are in currently compliance but state police have yet to update the registry.

Although he was not listed as non-compliant on the registry, a registered sexual predator who resided in a hotel in unincorporated Lake Bluff was arrested and charged earlier this month with luring and unlawful failure of a sex offender to report an internet site after authorities said he tried to lure a 12-year-old North Carolina boy to his home. Jason Silsdorf, 36, has been held at Lake County Jail since Sept. 20 in lieu of the $300,000 cash portion of his bond, but he is still listed on the above map at his registered address.

In Illinois, registered sex offenders are prohibited from passing out candy on Halloween. They may not appear in a Halloween costume or other child-centered holiday characters, such as Santa or the Easter Bunny, in public. Registered sex offenders, however, may wear a Halloween costume in their home, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries play a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the child.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the National Sex Offender Public Website, estimates that only about 10 percent of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are strangers to the child.

The Justice Department estimates 60 percent of perpetrators are known to the child but are not family members but rather family friends, babysitters, child care providers and others, and 30 percent of child victims are abused by family members. Nearly a quarter of the abusers are under the age of 18, the department estimates.

The Association for the Treatment of Sex Abusers, a nonprofit organization for clinicians, researchers, educators, law enforcement and court officials involved in sexual abuse cases, cautions that children do not face a heightened risk during the Halloween season: "There is no change in the rate of sexual crimes by non-family members during Halloween. That was true both before and after communities enacted laws to restrict the activities of registrants during Halloween. The crimes that do increase around Halloween are vandalism and property destruction, as well as theft, assault, and burglary."

Related:

• NARSOL Objects To Local Mapping Of Registered Sex Offenders
• Why Patch Publishes Sex Offender Registry Maps