Domestic violence survivor learns man responsible is free, despite violating electronic monitoring agreement

The Illinois domestic violence hotline says calls have reached an all-time high.

In one woman's case, she was repeatedly stalked and abused, even though the man responsible was forced to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, which he cut off.

"I view myself as a pretty strong person. I held a lot of guilt and shame," said Madeline Morgan. "It's confusing when you're in something, and you feel very weak and vulnerable."

Morgan is 31-years-old and said she's living in fear because of a man she met online.

"There are people in this world that are very cunning and manipulative. You have to be very careful about who you open yourself up to. That's terrifying, that's terrifying," she said.

Morgan said when she met him, she was doing a tattoo apprenticeship and had big dreams.

The man in question, Dale Gossett, was captured on police body camera in a red pickup truck during a routine traffic stop in Tinley Park last November for having a nonworking taillight. The officer soon discovered it was anything but routine, especially after the officer radioed in Gossett's name for a background check.

He had multiple warrants in DuPage and Will counties for dangerous drugs and was flagged as armed and dangerous. He also had an active order of protection out of Joliet by Morgan, who said that Gossett was a violent person.

She didn't know he had a criminal record spanning 20 years. Morgan dated Gossett for only a few months before needing to file an emergency order of protection against him.

Dave: What did he do to you?

Madeline: I went into the bathroom, and he kicked the door down and dragged me out. He's body slammed me, he's choked me until I lost consciousness, and I came to, and my body was convulsing.

She said she was so ashamed of not seeing the warning signs that she started blaming herself. Even changed her appearance, changed her hair color from brown to pink, and quit her job, attempting to wash away the past.

"It's like my self-worth plummeted," she said tearfully. "I don't know how I got out of bed. Um, it was really, really hard."

His violent attacks on Morgan led to two orders of protection requiring he have no contact with her. Despite that, over the course of two weeks, he kept calling her — 84 times and texting her 698 times, to be exact.

She moved 30 miles away to another county, and he still followed her, leaving unwanted gifts, including a rose and a teddy bear, by her front door.

When Tinley Park police arrested Gossett, they also searched him repeatedly, and back at the police station, they made him remove his shoes and socks. During that thorough search, it's what they didn't find that's alarming.

In 2024, a judge ordered Gossett to wear two electronic monitoring bracelets, the same ones he texted Morgan. One bracelet tracked his whereabouts, and the other his sobriety. He wasn't wearing either at the time of his arrest.

"This is crazy, and it's infuriating. I'm angry," Morgan said.

CBS News Chicago investigators uncovered court records showing Gossett had been violating his electronic monitoring agreement for nearly an entire year before he was caught during the traffic stop.

Morgan said nobody alerted her that Gossett was on the run, or that he had cut off his ankle bracelets.

Morgan: And I had no idea.

Dave: You're learning from me?

Morgan: Yeah … super powerful.

Gossett was jailed for his warrants after this traffic stop, only to be let out again and given yet another electronic monitoring device. He was wearing a new one when CBS News Chicago finally tracked him down. He declined to speak on the electronic monitoring.

Dave: Do you know where he is right now?

Morgan shakes her head no.

Dave: Does that worry you?

Morgan: Yes.

How dangerous is Gossett? Court records show that in 2008, he held a different woman against her will. He grabbed her by the arms, picked her up, and restrained her. He then grabbed her mouth to silence her, telling her she could not leave while wielding a hammer.

"And that's so scary for me, because I had no idea," Morgan said.

In 2010, another woman and more violence. He threatened to break her legs and choked her while pressing her head against the steering wheel of a car. Those cases resulted in two convictions before Gossett even met Morgan.

When asked how the system can improve to stop repeaters such as himself, Gossett said, "Yeah, stay away from drugs and alcohol if you have a problem, and that's all I have to say."

Dave: Knowing that he is out there, you will always be worried?

Morgan: Yeah, and it's crazy that I'm told to go into hiding when he's able to do whatever he wants, live his life as normal, continue on, continue the harassment.

In 2025, while the DuPage County Probation Department found him repeatedly violating his electronic monitoring agreement, another judge in Will County gave him permission to travel to Wisconsin for a supposed work assignment, and then, at some point, it appeared he just cut the devices off.

Dave: Whoever was supposed to be monitoring the electronic monitoring bracelet failed you?

Morgan: Yes. The system has failed. It's failed. It's broken.

Gossett did have a message for his prior victims and Morgan.

"You tell them to stop being victims? Tell Madeline to get a life and quit f****** being such a victim," he said.

"I'm angry because I matter," Morgan said, crying, "Like I know I matter, other women matter, and it makes you feel not safe."

Morgan said she hasn't met anyone as terrifying as Gossett.

"I told my mom and my sister if it's not me, it's going to be someone else, it's going to lead to that. I've never met someone so terrifying before," she said.

The DuPage Probation Department said it's not their job to take people into custody for violating their monitoring agreements, but they did not talk about why he was never charged for cutting off the bracelet. 

Sentinel Offender Services, the private monitoring company paid by DuPage County taxpayers to track Gossett and others, and the Will County Probation Department also had no comment.

As for Gossett, he's been given a new bracelet and is still facing other charges in Will County. He has a hearing on Friday.

Full statement from the Office of the Chief Judge in DuPage County:

Sentinel Offender Services has standard operating procedures in place for various types of GPS violations. Sentinel would have followed these procedures by first attempting to notify the defendant to resolve the alert. In addition to this attempt, they would notify both the victim and the Probation Department.  The Probation Department contacted the victim on the day Sentinel provided notification that the battery was depleted and had additional contacts in the weeks that followed. Probation also made efforts, across multiple means,  to reach the defendant.  In this situation, a Probation Violation Notice was subsequently filed which memorialized the defendant's violation of the conditions of his probation. Included in the violation notice was that the defendant's bracelet stopped transmitting due to the battery being depleted. As a result of this violation notice, a warrant was issued in DuPage County for the defendant's arrest.

Mr. Gossett had separate probation cases in Will County and DuPage County. The two agencies were in contact with one another regarding the defendant, and we were notified of an arrest warrant filed in Will County in April 2025 for Failure to Appear in Court.

It's important to note that once a warrant is issued, it is the responsibility of law enforcement to serve the warrant. Probation Officers do not have the authority to search for or take individuals into secure custody.