Man cleared of rape arrested as unregistered sex offender

A suburban Chicago man cleared of a rape conviction was jailed briefly after police mistakenly arrested him as an unregistered sex offender, officials say. Carl Chatman was exonerated last month for a 2002 rape after spending 11 years in prison, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. He was somehow listed on the Illinois state sex offender website with his status shown as non-compliant for failing to register as a sex offender. Chatman, 58, was arrested at his sister's residence where he has been staying since his release from prison. Berwyn police held him for about two hours before his attorney showed them documents proving Chatman's conviction had been thrown out. Chatman had been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting a county worker in 2002. He was released after Cook County prosecutors said they no longer believed the alleged victim and did not think the assault actually took place.