Kelly Levens is a handyman and former landlord, but he owns a priest outfit, authorities say.

The convicted sex offender from Sleepy Hollow tried to smuggle the outfit and nine laptop computers into Canada under a fake name last week, officials said. That seemed a little suspicious to Canadian authorities. They sent him to the Washington state side of the border to be held by police there on a fugitive from justice charge while Kane County officials scrambled to get two no-bond warrants to force him home.

But police in Washington let the 44-year-old go on $25,000 bail.

"We are still trying to get him back," said Kane County Sgt. Brandon Gentry. "We have sent out (police) bulletins."

Kane County prosecutors also are seeking an extradition warrant from the Illinois governor's office.

This is the second time in four months Kane County officials have had a fugitive released on a low bond in Washington before officers had a chance to pick them up. Christopher Carlyle had a $500,000 bail on a Kane warrant for defrauding an elderly couple out of Montgomery, but he was released on a $25,000 fugitive bail out of Washington. Kane officials say they are not deterred.

"Kane County, we all want this guy back. We don't want him to fall through the cracks," said Pam Monaco, who prosecuted Levens on his 2001 sex charge. "We can't let our criminals think they can walk over the Canadian border and assume a new identity - especially sex offenders."

But Levens' mother, Delores, said it is that targeting of sex offenders that may have pushed her son out of the county. She said Levens has been harassed since his 2001 criminal sexual assault conviction, which she said stemmed from consensual sex with a 16- year-old who he thought was 18. He was 39 years old at the time. Prosecutors said the girl offered to help Levens set up a computer at his home and wasn't planning to have sex until the older man pinned her down.

The conviction - and four-year probation sentence garnered in a plea agreement after the girl left the country - branded Levens with a sex offender record. He has since been charged with failing to register as a sex offender twice. Delores Levens said those were instances where Levens didn't realize he needed to move away from a park or re-register after a short relocation.

Prosecutors say he's blatantly ignoring the rules and has pending warrants for a probation violation and missing a court date on a charge of domestic violence for hitting a woman in the head with a bowl in Sleepy Hollow.

They also have concerns since he changed his identity.

He was wanted in court in Kane County on the latest two charges when he sold his home in Sleepy Hollow March 30.

A week later he had new highlights in his hair, a brand new pickup truck and trailer loaded up with his belongings, and a new name, Curtis Martinelle.

The driver's license, Social Security card and birth certificate were all valid. Officials believe they may have come from a dead Iowa man.

Levens presented the new identity cards to a Canadian border services officer at the Washington state crossing. But the officer thought Levens seemed a little jumpy, so he asked to see the entire wallet, officials said. Inside was a church card with Levens' real name. A subsequent search of the car turned up a will also in Levens' real name, nearly $12,000 in cash, the computers and a priest outfit, officials said.

The officer noticed undisclosed "indicators" that border guards are taught can signify a visitor is trying to hide a criminal past or enter the country for illegal reasons, said border services spokeswoman Paula Shore. U.S. Customs officials are searching the computer hard drives.

© 2006 Daily Herald, Paddock Publications, Inc