CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Members of the Englewood community and their alderman are demanding answers about the housing of more than two dozen convicted sex offenders in one building.
"In my opinion, the landlord is just getting a payday," said 6th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer.
He's referring to a 12-unit condo building on 66th and Perry where, he said, 28 sex offenders are living alongside units that include women and children.
Ald. Sawyer said the decision to move child killer and predator Cayce Williams to the building, because Crystal Lake did not want him was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
"When it’s one, there’s frustration. When there’s two, there’s more frustration. These are 28, all in the same building, all without any notification to the surrounding residents," he said.
Community activist Darryl Smith sees his community being used in a very negative way and creating more challenges in a neighborhood that already has its share.
"I have a problem with people from Crystal Lake, McHenry County, Joliet, these other different areas and then they use Englewood as a dumping ground," Smith said.
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Smith said Williams needs to be removed from the building, especially in light of the fact that, not too far away is Ryan Harris Park, which is named for a young girl who was raped and killed in 1998.
Smith said he understands allowing convicted sex offenders returning to the communities where they had previously lived, but not having them moved from elsewhere when other communities don't want them.
"My problem is, he needs to be paroled to where he committed the crime, where he was living before he committed the crime," he said.
Alderman Sawyer said some residents don’t mind a recovery house in their community so long as there is a plan for getting the ex-offenders on the right path.