Village officials rushed through an ordinance through Wednesday aimed at preventing registered sex offenders from being admitted to private nursing homes in the village.
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The move came after officials identified at least two sex offenders living in Century Village Nursing Rehabilitation near 85th Street and Harlem Avenue.
“There’s two or three there now, and there’s nothing to prevent there being five next week,” said Village Atty. Vincent Cainkar.
This week, officials in nearby Evergreen Park passed a similar ordinance after several sex offenders, some of whom did not register with the state, were discovered living in a nursing home that officials have been trying to shut down.
That ordinance was a model for the one the Bridgeview Village Board passed unanimously Wednesday.
The law requires Century Village administrators to expel by June 1 any sex offenders living in the facility and prohibits operators from admitting additional offenders.
It also requires operators to do stricter background checks of clients and report their findings to police.
“They have to show that a person has been cleared before they get in,” Cainkar said.
Penalties for non-compliance could include fines as high as $1,000 per day and suspension or revocation of state licenses.
Police Chief Charles Chigas said the village has yet to take any action against the nursing home, but was ready to do so.
Cainkar said private nursing homes throughout Illinois have begun accepting paroled sex offenders who are indigent and in need of medical or psychiatric care.
But that puts other nursing home clients and the community at risk, he said.
“We’re in Springfield now to get these laws changed, because it’s a statewide problem,” he said.