People v. Pepitone, 75 N.E.3d 297

Marc A. Pepitone, a convicted predator of a child (1999 predatory criminal sexual assault of a child), was arrested in a public park (Bolingbrook’s Indian Boundary Park) while walking his dog for violating 720 ILCS 5/11-9.4-1(b).
Section 11-9.4-1(b) makes it unlawful for a sexual predator or child sex offender to knowingly be present in any public park building or on public park property; first violation is a Class A misdemeanor.
Pepitone was charged, convicted by a jury, and sentenced to 24 months conditional discharge, 100 hours community service, and fines; he challenged the statute as unconstitutional.
He moved to dismiss on substantive due process and ex post facto grounds; trial court denied dismissal; he appealed after conviction.
The Third District majority held the statute facially unconstitutional under rational-basis/substantive due process review because it criminalizes a broad range of innocent conduct (e.g., walking a dog) and lacks limiting mens rea or temporal/location tailoring tied to children’s presence.
Because the court found the statute facially invalid, it did not reach Pepitone’s separate ex post facto claim; Justice Carter dissented, arguing the statute is rationally related to the legislature’s protective purpose and should be upheld.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether 720 ILCS 5/11-9.4-1(b) is facially unconstitutional under substantive due process (rational-basis review)	The State: statute rationally advances public safety by removing sex offenders from places where children may be present	Pepitone: statute is overbroad; bans all child sex offenders from all parks at all times, criminalizing innocent conduct without assessing danger or requiring children actually be present	Court: statute is facially unconstitutional — it sweeps too broadly, criminalizes innocent conduct, and lacks a culpable mental state or tailoring to achieve the protective purpose
Whether an ex post facto violation occurred because Pepitone’s predicate conviction predated § 11-9.4-1(b)	State: (not reached)	Pepitone: application to him is punitive and retroactive	Not reached (moot after facial invalidation)

People v. Wick, 107 Ill. 2d 62 (Ill. 1985) (statute struck where it criminalized innocent conduct by omitting requirement of unlawful purpose)
People v. Zaremba, 158 Ill. 2d 36 (Ill. 1994) (statute invalid where lack of mens rea criminalized innocent conduct and was not reasonably related to its aim)
In re K.C., 186 Ill. 2d 542 (Ill. 1999) (invalidating absolute-liability vehicle statute that reached innocent acts)
People v. Wright, 194 Ill. 2d 1 (Ill. 2000) (statute struck for punishing innocent lapses in recordkeeping)
People v. Carpenter, 228 Ill. 2d 250 (Ill. 2008) (invalidated statute criminalizing knowledge of secret compartments without requiring illegality of contents)
In re M.A., 2015 IL 118049 (Ill. 2015) (rational-basis review requires statute not be arbitrary or unreasonable)
Doe v. City of Lafayette, 377 F.3d 757 (7th Cir. 2004) (discussed as contrasting case where individual-specific park ban followed individualized findings)
People v. Falbe, 189 Ill. 2d 635 (Ill. 2000) (statute must be reasonably designed to remedy evils identified by legislature)