A trans-identified male and alleged pedophile is not being housed with female inmates or male inmates, but is being housed by himself.
“The Illinois Department of Corrections has no playbook for this and they haven’t told me what I am supposed do,” said McLean County Sheriff Matt Lane. “I do what I think is right. At this point it is by choice.”
Cities has place an inquiry with the Illinois Department of Corrections to verify any “protocol” they might have that is not accessible on their website.
Michelle Blessant, born James, according to Lane, has agreed to be housed alone. Lane said that’s the safest option for Blessant.
Brandt Parsley of the Bloomington Police said the department was treating the arrest as a “woman” because that’s how Blessant identifies.
Cities asked, “What would happen if Blessant asked to be housed with the male population or female population?”
Lane said he doesn’t not want to risk his safety or anyone else’s safety.
“I don’t know if he’d be safe,” said Lane.
Blessent was initially arrested in April of 2023 and has been held in custody in McLean County Detention Facility since on a $1 million bond warrant.
Blessent’s initial file included five counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Victim Under 13.
But on Nov. 15, an additional three charges were applied, including one additional count of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Victim under 13, one count of Grooming, and one count of Exploitation of a Child. In a public notice posted to their Facebook, the Bloomington Police Department confirmed that the new charges were related to the original victim.
This is not the first run in Blessent had with police. He has had several traffic violations, including driving on a suspended license.
Most notable was a domestic violence case in 2014, where Anthony Blessent… a family member… was the victim.
The case was dismissed and Michelle Blessent was never prosecuted in that domestic battery case. The case was not prosecuted as the victim declined prosecution.
Court records and social media history demonstrates that Blessent is a father. He was pursued by child support enforcement in 2014 and ordered to provide assistance by a court after paternity was established.
Reported by Reduux, Erik Anderson, who lives in Bloomington according to Facebook, posted a comment and blasted Bloomington Police for allowing “transphobic and insulting” comments to be made about the alleged pedophile Blessant.
