GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- A registered sex offender’s whereabouts was unknown for one-and-a-half years before a warrant was issued for his arrest, records show.
Dwight Evan Chisolm was sentenced in 2011 in Brown County on a conviction of sexual assault of a child.
Chisolm, now 27, was sentenced to three years in prison. Records show Chisolm was homeless as of mid-2015 and was told to report his whereabouts weekly.
“The last contact with [Chisolm] was a phone call from him on 6/13/17,” reads an entry in a years-long record of his whereabouts maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, or DOC.
An entry on June 14, 2018, reads, “Attempts to locate registrant have been unsuccessful.” The DOC sent the case to the Brown County District Attorney on the same date, according to a DOC representative. More than six months later, the day after Christmas 2018, the District Attorney’s office charged Chisolm with failure to provide information as a sex offender and a judge signed a warrant for Chisolm’s arrest, records show. An arrest warrant is a command to a law enforcement official to take an individual into custody. District Attorney Lasee said he is in the process of hiring more attorneys at his office, which he said should help streamline charging a registered sex offender in cases where his office gets a report of non-compliance.
Green Bay Police arrested Chisolm in September of this year, records show.
New charges against him include child enticement and sexual intercourse with a child.
Chisolm met a 17-year-old boy online, and twice last month went into a garage on Green Bay’s east side for sex with the teen, according to court documents. The location, which charges list as Chisolm’s address, is near Baird and Main streets. A request for comment from the property’s tenant was not returned. A request for comment from Chisolm’s attorney was not returned.
Neighbors of the home near Baird and Main streets were frustrated with the 18 month gap records show between when Chisolm stopped reporting his whereabouts and the issuance of a warrant on the charge of failure to provide information as a sex offender.
“It doesn't make sense, like why a year and a half, you know?” asked Stephanie Plancarte, a neighbor.
When shown a picture of Chisolm, Plancarte said she had seen him in the neighborhood and Chisolm helped her find her dog.
She did not know that Chisolm is a registered sex offender.
“That’s pretty shocking to me,” she said.
Matt Mandich, who lives down the street, echoed Plancarte.
"Something should be done about that,” Mandich said of the 18 month timeframe.
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee declined to comment on any specific pending case, but agreed with the neighbors’ concerns.
“I'd say they're absolutely right,” Lasee said of the neighbors’ reactions to the timing.
“That timeframe is too long.”
Lasee said factors that could play into that timeline include staffing in his office and the DOC trying to work with people before recommending charges.
A DOC representative said Chisolm’s probation ended at the end of March, 2017, and sent the following:
“Mr. Chisolm was homeless while living in Brown County. Since he did not have a permanent residence, it was difficult for staff to try and locate him when he appeared to be out of compliance with the sex offender registry. In broad terms, when any individual who is required by law to comply with the Sex Offender Registry, is homeless, and no longer communicates with the sex offender registry staff, the DOC must do a more in-depth investigation as to the whereabouts of the registrant.
“As stated in State v. Dinkins [law.justia.com], ‘a register cannot be convicted of violating the statute for failing to report the address at which he will be residing when he is unable to provide this information.’ Meaning staff must take additional steps to investigate the person’s whereabouts than they would for someone who is not homeless. Examples of that could be to try to contact a person via their family, places they frequent, or other options.”
The DOC log shows attempts to reach those who know Chisolm and communication with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and Green Bay Police to try to locate Chisolm. Those attempts, the log shows, were unsuccessful.
(Warning: Graphic sexual language. Click here to read the new charges against Chisolm.)
Other Sex Offenders
While Chisolm remains in jail on the new charges, the whereabouts of other registered sex offenders convicted in Brown County remain unknown.
Elton Andrew Smith, 59, was sentenced in 2004 to seven-and-a-half years in prison after a conviction of sexual assault of a child.
“The world is a collage of victims to Mr. Smith, and he seems to find them everywhere he looks,” a judge said during Smith’s sentencing.
Smith was required to report his whereabouts every week and last had contact with authorities in January of 2017, records show. A warrant went out for his arrest that same month, according to a representative for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections . Smith remains a wanted man.
A warrant is also out for James Patrick Stenberg, who last reported in March of this year that he was living near where the East River meets the Fox River in Green Bay. Stenberg, 60, was sentenced in 2003 in Brown County on a conviction of sexual assault of a child.
Attorneys were not listed on the new charges for either Smith or Stenberg.
Anyone with questions or concerns about a registered sex offender may call this DOC tip line: 1-877-234-0085 .
