Illinois judge sparks outrage by reversing 18year-old’s rape conviction
A judge in western Illinois who found an 18-year-old man guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl has come under fire after he later threw out the conviction, saying the 148 days the man spent in jail was punishment enough.
Judge Robert Adrian of Adam county, Illinois, said Drew Clinton, who was convicted last October for raping a 16-year-old girl at a graduation party last May, had received “plenty of punishment”.
“Mr Clinton has served almost five months in the county jail,” Adrian said on 3 January, according to court transcripts. “For what happened in this case, that is plenty of punishment. That would be a just sentence.”
In Illinois, a person convicted of rape is handed the mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison.
During the trial, the judge heard evidence that the girl had told police she had attended a graduation party, where she drank alcohol and swam in a pool in her underwear before she eventually passed out. She said she woke up to a pillow pushed on her face and Clinton sexually assaulting her.
“I asked him to stop multiple times and he wouldn’t. I finally got off the couch and pushed him off of me and he jumped up and just started playing video games as if nothing had happened,” the teenager said.
According to the police report, the teenager was able to push Clinton off her and then told a friend what happened. She later told her father, who called the police.
In court, Judge Adrian said: “There is no way … for what happened in this case that this teenager should go to the department of corrections. I will not do that.”
But the judge said if he were to rule that the sentencing statute he was bound to follow was unconstitutional, his decision would be overturned and Clinton would be ordered to prison. In order to avoid an appeal he believed would be successful, Adrian said what he could do was determine that prosecutors had failed to “prove their case” and dismiss the sexual assault charge.
Upon hearing the decision, “I immediately had to leave the courtroom and go to the bathroom. I was crying,” the teenager said.
Anita Rodriguez, the prosecutor in the case, said she had never in her 40year career seen anything like Judge Adrian’s ruling. According to her, the trial “did a lot for [the teenager’s] healing process, but now she’s back to where we were at.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Quincy Area Network Against Domestic Abuse asked survivors to avoid Adrian’s courtroom.
“Women in Adams county should be angry and afraid. One message is clear: If you are raped, avoid Judge Adrian’s courtroom,” it said. The organization went on to add that the verdict and Adrian’s comments sent “a chilling message to other rape victims that their behavior, not the rapists’, will be judged. Shame the victims, free the rapists.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org /rcip/internl.html