Will County Gazette

Illinois House District 86 candidate Jim Lanham is celebrating a breakthrough in his long-running effort to shut down a Joliet apartment building housing multiple convicted child sex offenders—just three blocks from Cunningham Elementary School and soon to be within 500 feet of a new public park.

Lanham has spent the past three years trying to remove the tenants from 1000 Cora Street, a building he’s dubbed the “Pedophile Palace.”

He first raised the issue in 2022, warning residents that five out-of-town child sex offenders had been placed at the site by NewDay Apartments, a company specializing in post-prison housing for registrants.

Now, the start of construction on Cunningham Neighborhood Park marks a turning point in Lanham’s efforts. The pocket park, located within 500 feet of the building, triggers a state law that prohibits child sex offenders from living near parks—meaning the tenants will have to relocate once it officially opens.

"It’s been a three-year ongoing fight,”Lanham told the Will County Gazette. “Finally, all these little details of getting the park built are coming to a close. So happy to have that—especially after the past legislative session where they wanted to lower the distance, and that place wouldn't have accomplished its goal."

Working alongside John Sheridan of the Cunningham Neighborhood Association, Lanham helped promote a plan to build the park next to the complex, invoking state residency laws that prohibit child sex offenders from living near parks and schools. 

The city approved $100,000 for the project, a move Lanham has celebrated as a step toward removing the tenants. He pointed to a similar strategy in Aurora, where sex offenders moved out after a park was built near their residence.

He said he feels no empathy for the dozen or so convicted pedophiles currently living at 1000 Cora Street who will need to move soon. 

“The offenders technically have a difficult time finding housing, more than 500 feet,” he said. “They put themselves in that situation by raping kids. So, you have difficulty later in life because you raped a kid, so what?” 

Lanham said that while he is looking forward to the transition taking place, it is likely that the apartment owner will move the occupants to another building in their portfolio.

“NewDay Apartments knows we're doing this,” Lanham said. “I mean they've complained about it before, complained about us doing it. But I think it would probably be cheaper for them just to move these guys to one of their other (buildings). They have numerous properties for this, so they'll just have to move them there. And then that'll be quicker and cheaper than fighting this.”

He said he expects NewDay to simply move other sex offenders into 1000 Cora Street.

“They'll find adult sex offenders and move them in there, which still sucks,” he said. “I mean they're still be 10-12 offenders, but at least they're not child sexual predators, which is the issue.”  

Lanham’s outspoken opposition to the housing arrangement has kept him in the local spotlight.

The 2026 election will be Lanham’s second run for the 86th House District held by incumbent State Rep. Larry Walsh Jr. (D-Elwood) whose district the apartment complex is located in. 

During the 2024 campaign he aimed barbed rhetoric at local Democrats like Walsh, State Rep. Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) and State Sen. Meg Cappel (D-Shorewood), accusing them of legislative inaction and negligence. 

“They did nothing about it,” Lanham told the Will County Gazette in 2024. “They could have crafted a law and changed if there's going to be more than one sex offender at an address, it has to be zoned or something. They could have come up with something.”

Lanham’s efforts have drawn widespread bi-partisan support as well as strong criticism from the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL). 

“No one is safer when we render members of our community homeless,” NARSOL spokesperson Sandy Rozek wrote. “In fact, decades of social science research establish that stable housing is one of the most important factors in rehabilitation of people with past convictions.” 

Lanham rejected NARSOL's criticism.

“I think it’s absolutely crazy that there is a group that advocates for pedophiles, like, ‘oh, these poor pedophils are being kicked out.’ Well, too bad,” he said. 

He insisted that child safety is ultimately the most important issue and that the men living at 1000 Cora Street had made their choices.

"Those men are not victims,” Lanham previously told the Will County Gazette. “They are volunteers, and child safety is more important than their feelings. It doesn’t come down to a matter of rights.” 

Despite losing his 2024 election bid with 40.1% of the vote to Walsh’s 59.9%, Lanham’s stance has energized a segment of the Joliet community. 

As Lanham begins to campaign for the 2026 election the fight is far from over.