STMW
MOOSEHEART, Ill. — A former Mooseheart employee who has spent two decades in prison for sexually assaulting young boys will not be released from custody this week as expected.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office has filed a petition asking that Chad Wahl be committed as a sexually violent person and not be released until a court deems him no longer a threat. His probable cause hearing was scheduled for Tuesday at the Kane County Judicial Center.
Wahl, 44, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting six students while he worked as a house parent at Mooseheart near west suburban Batavia in the early 1990s. Mooseheart is a place where children with family problems, or no families, can live and attend school until they are 18.
According to Illinois law, Wahl was required to serve half of his sentence. He was expected to be released on Nov. 15, but based on a Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act evaluation completed in late September, Madigan’s office is seeking to have him committed for treatment. He is under the custody and care of the Department of Human Services at their Treatment and Detention Facility in downstate Rushville.
The evaluation, which was made available through public court records in Kane County, shows that Wahl has not undergone any sex-offender treatment during his nearly two decades in prison, and he suffers from at least two mental disorders that make it “substantially probable that he will engage in acts of sexual violence,” according to Madigan’s petition.
Wahl allegedly suffers from pedophilic disorder and narcissistic personality traits, according to Melissa Eldon-Padera, Psy.D., who administered the evaluation. Illinois law requires that anyone convicted of certain types of sex offenses be evaluated before the end of their sentence.
If the evaluation indicates that the person may be sexually violent — as defined by the law — it is up to the court to decide whether he/she will be released.
Full story: State Moves To Keep Mooseheart Molester In Prison