Madigan: Man deemed sexually violent, ordered to remain in custody

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Thursday that a Cook County judge ruled that a registered sex offender and convicted murderer is a sexually violent person.

Cook County Circuit Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered 61-year-old Jose Montanez to remain in Illinois Department of Human Services custody for treatment, according to a statement from Madigan’s office.

In 1993, Montanez was convicted of murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault and concealing a homicide and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the rape and murder of a woman in Chicago in 1987, the attorney general’s office said.

Montanez buried the woman’s body in the basement of an apartment building where it was found after he had left the state for California, according to the attorney general’s office. In 1991, he was arrested in California after attacking and attempting to sexually assault a woman at an apartment building he was working at.

“This offender has a history of violent sexual attacks on women and fleeing Illinois in order to avoid being held accountable for his reprehensible crimes,” Madigan said. “I appreciate the judge’s decision that will prevent this violent offender from reentering society.”

Under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, a judge can commit offenders to the custody of IDHS if they have been convicted of a sexually violent offense and suffer from a mental disorder, according to the attorney general’s office.

Prosecutors must also prove that the offender is likely to commit future acts of sexual violence if released from custody, according to the attorney general’s office. Once committed, offenders are re-evaluated on a regular basis to determine if they continue to meet these criteria.

Montanez was returned to the IDHS Sexually Violent Person Treatment and Detention Facility in downstate Rushville.