Convicted Rapist Gets Another 75 Years Behind Bars
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A serial rapist who has already served 30 years in prison was sentenced to 75 more for sexually assaulting three women within months of his release from prison in 2009.
Julius Anderson, 63, was paroled in June 2009 to a St. Leonard's House, a halfway house on the Near West Side.
In the three months following his release, he sexually assaulted three women, according to a statement from the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
Anderson committed the three sexual assaults while he was out of the halfway house without permission, Cook County prosecutors said previously.
Anderson was convicted of multiple charges of attempted home invasion, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and attempted criminal sexual assault, the statement said.
The three assaults occurred between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1, 2009. In each instance, Anderson would approach the victim from behind and threaten to kill her if she did not do as he said, prosecutors said.
In the first, early the morning of Aug. 15, 2009, a 25-year-old woman was held at knife point and forced into a gangway, where she was sexually assaulted, prosecutors said.
The second attack occurred three days later when Anderson choked a 28-year-old woman to force his way into her apartment, where he tied her with nylon cord, removed her clothing and fondled her, prosecutors allege. He then told her she was going to die, but fled the apartment.
In the third attack on Sept. 1, a 28-year-old woman was grabbed as she entered her apartment, forced into a bedroom and bound with electrical tape, prosecutors allege. Anderson removed her clothing with a knife, cut her breast, sexually assaulted her then stole several items and fled.
"We are extremely grateful for and applaud the sentence in this case because it will ensure that this violent predator will never again walk the streets of Chicago to prey on innocent women," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a statement.
Anderson was also convicted of sexual assault and armed robbery in 1973, and had two sexual assault and armed robbery convictions in 1977, prosecutors said.
Anderson was diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia, records show. He also racked up nearly 100 disciplinary violations in prison before he was paroled on June 26, 2009. The state selected St. Leonard's House as his parole "host site," but he didn't stay long. On Aug. 7, 2009, six weeks after arriving, Anderson asked state parole officials for permission to leave and was denied, records show. He removed an electronic monitoring bracelet and left without permission, records show.
The three women Anderson assaulted in Bucktown later filed a suit against St. Leonard's Ministries and the psychologists whose evaluation led to Anderson's parole.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez had urged the state to commit Anderson to a secured mental health facility indefinitely after he completed his prison term in 2009, as Illinois law allows for habitual sex offenders.
But Affiliated Psychologists recommended parole for Anderson. The lawsuit said Affiliated Psychologists failed to take Anderson's criminal and mental history into proper consideration.
St. Leonard's stopped accepting paroled sex offenders after Anderson was arrested in the 2009 attacks, but continues to house other types of parolees.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
