By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
A convicted sex offender was arrested and charged Monday afternoon after approaching students at a bus stop near Cooper Elementary School.
According a criminal complaint filed in Racine County Tuesday afternoon, Leon Hopson, 29, was charged with two felonies of misidentifying himself, as he is a sex offender, as well as three misdemeanor charges of obstructing an officer and two misdemeanor bail jumping charges.
The charges stem from two separate incidents – one on May 24 when Hopson was yelling in front of Richter’s Marketplace, and then Monday’s activities.
According to City of Burlington Police Chief Mark Anderson, the police received a complaint Monday about a man approaching students at the bus stop, who then gave them a crown and a bible.
The city police had had previous contact with Hobson at the end of May, when he was allegedly yelling in front of Richter’s Marketplace. He ran away from police and gave them the incorrect middle name when caught. He made an initial court appearance May 25 on the first charge of misidentifying himself plus two obstruction charges.
On Monday, Hopson allegedly again gave the wrong middle name. Officials also contend he had not properly registered in Illinois as a sex offender since December 2013.
Hopson also allegedly did not have his birth date or middle name correctly filed with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. The mother of his child, reportedly told police that Hopson had specifically told her he was not a registered sex offender.
Hopson had been adjudicated delinquent as a minor in Peoria County, Ill., in 2002 with two counts of criminal sexual assault with force. As a result, he is required to register as a sex offender.
Hopson’s address is listed as 249 Amanda Street – an /rooming house complex that was proposed for use as a Women’s Resource Center Shelter in 2014.
The building is across the street from Cooper Elementary School, and parents successfully protested placing the shelter there.
Wisconsin passed a law this spring stating that a sex offender cannot live within 1,500 feet of a school, church, day care center or public park.
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