Wabash County, Illinois- The sleepy and small village of Bellmont, Illinois is waking up to news that their Mayor has hired a questionable part time employee; a convicted violent child sex offender with multiple felonies.
Mayor Linda Johnson has reportedly hired a temporary and part time city employee, Matthew Berberich. Matthew is on the S/O registry marked as a "s**ual predator" with a history of being noncompliant, meaning, he hasn't registered properly at least twice. He is on the registry due to aggravated criminal s*****l a***e to a minor.
Matthew was released from prison last month after being sentenced to 5 years in prison for failure to report a change of address and revoking his probation.
Juli Dunnewold has been outspoken about Matthew being hired. Her father owns a park in Bellmont and she worries about the children. The park is near a bus stop. This park is also a stop for the Wabash County lunch wagon which brings free meals to children. Juli and her father just set up shady spots for the children to sit and eat at the park.
Juli, alongside others, including elected officials, have reached out directly to Mayor Johnson and have asked her to reconsider her decision. This shocking hire by the mayor has resulted in two village board members making a public statement and understandably distancing themselves from the mayor's decision.
Barbara Bruce and Peggy Walling are both village board members of Bellmont.
Their public statement expressed that the two women felt they owed their lifelong friends and neighbors who placed their trust in them by voting for them, a statement.
They wanted their constituents to know that this hiring of the registered s/offender was "NOT a board decision". They added that there was "never a discussion brought to the board to be vetted nor voted on". The members explained to their understanding the mayor hired this individual "on her own accord'. They encouraged a healthy civil discussion and are willing to speak to anyone who would like to speak with them about the situation.
Juli Dunnewold shared with me, "I genuinely believe that Barbara and Peggy care. I've spoken to Barbara and she has told me that she does not believe he should be hired to represent the city. She also said that the mayor stated 'the lawyer said hiring him was legal'. Barbara also told me that the mayor said she didn't have to ask the board if he could be hired on or not 'because he's part-time or temporary'. Barbara agrees with us. She felt that a background check should have been initiated, but to be fully transparent, everyone in Bellmont already knew Matthew's charges".
Juli continued, "Barbara believes a town meeting should be held so residents can come and speak about their concerns because she cares about the community as much as the community cares about the community. She is looking into what she can do from her position."
Juli and her father take care of the Bellmont Main Street park. They believe a city employee with a criminal background preventing him from loitering or being within 500 feet of a park, would make his employment very limited in such a small town. Juli said that his duties have not been made crystal clear yet because despite all of her efforts, the mayor will not reach back out to her. So far, Juli has learned Matthew will most likely read meters on property in Bellmont, alongside other jobs the mayor asks him to do.
Matthew is trespassed from two properties permanently but neither are in Bellmont, however, Juli and other citizens are concerned about Matthew reading meters because there are children at many of those homes. They are also concerned with his other felonies which do involve being trespassed from property for burglaries or other issues.
Matthew's victims have spoken up and said they are terrified when they see him in public. The victims stated their ages were 11 and 9 when Matthew @ssaulted them. He was convicted just 11 years ago.
One of his victims stated that Matthew "is a monster" and he did awful things that he was found guilty of doing to her. She is in absolute shock that he is now a city employee. She expressed a lifetime of PTSD and how her life has changed after what Matthew did to her when she was a little girl. She closed her public statement stating that Matthew was "worse than a monster". The victims and their mother are all concerned for children in the community.
I did speak to law enforcement and asked them what their advice was for citizens that are concerned. They said, "Take photographs if you see him in the park or anywhere near children, and then call the proper authorities which would be Wabash County. There are many laws that prevent offenders to be anywhere near parks or establishments that children frequent, so photographic evidence would be excellent in this case. I know the urge is to call law enforcement immediately, but if you can get a picture, it will help 100%. You can take the picture while you are calling law enforcement if you need."
I was asked to share this story in the hopes that a town hall meeting could be arranged and if I hear that there is going to be a meeting before mid-July, I will update. Citizens we're also hoping that their mayor would reconsider this most recent hire for obvious reasons. Many of the people, including Juli who stated that even Barbara agreed with her, do feel that people deserve second chances but they don't think this job is appropriate for someone who is recorded as a predator of children.
I will update.
This photo was taken from the Illinois offender registry.
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