News-Democrat
Thanks to his sister, a convicted sex offender sought by the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department has been found and charged with failing to register as a sex offender.
The sister of Steven Wilkerson, 43, spotted an online News-Democrat story last month about police looking for Wilkerson. She told him police were looking for him and he should register, said St. Clair County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Johnson.
"He tried to register at the Monroe County Sheriff's Department and when he showed up he was in their computer as noncompliant," Johnson said. "They arrested him for us and he was transported to the St. Clair County Jail."
Steven Wilkerson. - Provided/BND
He was arrested Saturday and posted bond on $15,000 bail that evening. The St. Clair County State's Attorney charged him Saturday with failing to register change of address as a sex offender, a felony.
Later, per sex offender law requirements, Wilkerson went to the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department and informed them he was moving to Dupo. The Sex Offender Registration Act requires sex offenders to inform authorities of a change of residence within five days.
"Dupo has been notified," Johnson said. "As part of an ongoing program with the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, sex offender addresses are regularly verified by our officers. We are required to verify their addresses once a year, but we verify much more frequently."
In November, St. Clair County Sheriff's Deputy Pat Walters stopped by Wilkerson's registered address at 10240 N. Reider Road in unincorporated Lebanon to verify he was still at that address and was unable to locate him.
Information about where sex offenders are registered to live can be found at www.isp.state.il.us/sor.
"It changes constantly, on a daily basis," Johnson said. "Sex offenders are constantly moving. They might have lost their job or got a new job. If anybody in St. Clair County, regardless of jurisdiction, believes a sex offender is living somewhere other than what is on the ISP Web site, contact the sheriff's department and let us know."
There are 364 registered sex offenders living in St. Clair County, according to the Illinois State Police registered sex offender database. Of those, 26 are listed as either noncompliant or location unknown.
