QUINCY, ILL. -- A Quincy couple has a tough decision to make this week.
The woman's 17-year-old daughter will be released from a juvenile detention center in Warrenville, Illinois, which is located close to Chicago.
But the Department of Corrections won't release the girl to the couple's home because the husband is a registered sex offender.
KHQA's Rajah Maples spoke with the couple earlier this afternoon about their predicament.
Oscar and Patricia Amos married in 2008. Their two teenaged daughters, each from a previous relationship, lived with them. All was well until Patricia's daughter, Danielle got in trouble with the law in Quincy about a year ago. Danielle will be paroled on July 21, but the state will not allow her to return to her home since Oscar is a registered sex offender.
Oscar told KHQA he worked as a pimp in the Chicago area in the late 80s and early 90s. He says he had sex with a girl he thought was 19 years old at the time. But police informed him that the girl was 15 during an undercover sting. Oscar pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault in 1992.
Oscar Amos said, "I'm not trying to advocate anything about registered sex offender, because I understand the laws, and I have kids myself. If I had just met her and that situation came up, I would leave. But we've been together since 2005. This is where she's been living since we've been together, and that's the hard part. As a human, I understand your position, but to me, there are certain situations that you should have to go investigate. If it's not safe for her to be there, how? How can you determine that without assessing the situation?"
Oscar and Patricia told KHQA they're well aware of sex offender laws, and would never want to put any child in harm's way. But on the other hand, they would like to see the state investigate their situation rather than making a snap-decision.
Oscar said, "Danielle is not in any harm coming home with us. She never has been, and she never will be."
Patricia said, "I know for a fact that Oscar would never do nothing like that to Danielle. I don't have to worry about that. I'm supposed to be happy that Danielle is coming home, and I am, but the other part of me, I'm losing."
Rajah asks, "What are you going to do, Patricia?"
Patricia said, "I don't know. Either, he's going to stay and I'm going to leave. I don't know. The only place that I could probably do is see if I could put her and me in a hotel. I don't know. I just tell Danielle I'm not going to let her down"
Patricia told KHQA she has to make a decision this week.
KHQA called the Illinois Department of Corrections for its side of the story.
But the department was unable to answer any questions about this case since it involves a juvenile.
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