New Berlin board grants residency exception for designated offender near Greenfield Park

The New Berlin Offender Residency Appeal Board voted 3-1 on May 21, 2025, to grant an appeal allowing Michael Bilirakis to reside at 1525 South 120 Fourth Street, a property the board’s police representative said sits about 58 feet from Greenfield Park, a designated child safety location.

City Attorney Schmitzer told the board that the city ordinance restricting designated offenders from living within 500 feet of child safety locations is intended to protect children and is not punitive. Officer Tony Foose of the New Berlin Police Department summarized the department’s investigation, saying he used Bensenville (DuPage County) police records, DuPage County Circuit Court conviction records and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections sex-offender registry to determine that Bilirakis’s conviction in Illinois for aggravated criminal sexual abuse involved a 16-year-old victim and that Bilirakis meets the city’s definition of a designated offender under Ordinance 2018-17.

The board heard from Michael Bilirakis, who identified himself as the appellant and gave a Dousman, Wisconsin address. Bilirakis told the board he met the victim through an online dating platform, said he did not know her true age initially and later learned she was 16. He said he pled guilty, served jail time, completed court-ordered therapy and probation requirements though some terms were extended, and has not had subsequent felony or misdemeanor convictions listed in the state time system. Bilirakis said his primary reason for requesting the exception was affordability: the apartment at 1525 South 120 Fourth Street costs about $800 a month, and he wants to live with his girlfriend and their son so he can provide for the child and reduce long commuting costs.

Officer Foose told the board the parcel-to-parcel measurement from the subject address to Greenfield Park is roughly 58 feet and that, under Ordinance 2018-17, the city’s child-safety-zone definition applies even if the child safety location is outside New Berlin city limits. Foose reported the Illinois conviction, described the victim as a 16-year-old runaway, and said the Wisconsin public registry lists the victim relationship as "stranger." He said the department found no additional felony or misdemeanor convictions in the time system review and included photographs and file summaries in the board packet.

Board members questioned Bilirakis about the circumstances of the offense, his treatment and probation, the existence of support statements (none were submitted in writing), employment and housing searches outside the child-safety zone. Bilirakis said he had weekly therapy during probation, completed required treatment although he acknowledged extensions to the original schedule, worked a service job based in East Troy for about three months, and had previously lived in Genoa, Illinois.

With no public speakers for or against the request, the board moved into closed session under Wisconsin Stat. § 19.85 to discuss the appellant’s personal history and to deliberate. After closed-session deliberations, the board returned to open session and voted to approve the appeal by a 3-1 roll call vote (three aye, one nay). Board member John Goetter voted aye, Board member Virginia Moats voted aye, Board member James Oldham voted nay, and Board member Sherry Thompson voted aye. The board’s approval was announced to the appellant at the meeting’s end.

The board’s action grants an exception to the residency prohibition in Ordinance 2018-17 for this specific address and appellant; the board did not adopt amendments to the ordinance or announce supervisory or monitoring conditions at the time of the vote.