People v. Johnathan T. (In re Johnathan T.)
| Citation | 180 N.E.3d 854,2021 IL App (5th) 200247,449 Ill.Dec. 929 |
| Decision Date | 01 April 2021 |
| Docket Number | NO. 5-20-0247,5-20-0247 |
| Parties | IN RE JOHNATHAN T., a Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Johnathan T., Respondent-Appellant). |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Ellen J. Curry, and Eun Sun Nam, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Mt. Vernon, for appellant.
Josh Stratemeyer, State's Attorney, of Metropolis (Patrick Delfino, Patrick D. Daly, and Sharon Shanahan, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 The respondent, Johnathan T., a minor, was found guilty of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and sentenced to the Department of Juvenile Justice. He appeals the adjudication of delinquency and argues that the circuit court erred in failing to conduct an inquiry into his pro se claim of ineffective assistance of counsel as required by People v. Krankel , 102 Ill. 2d 181, 80 Ill.Dec. 62, 464 N.E.2d 1045 (1984). He also argues that the State's evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty of one of the counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and that the circuit court failed to follow statutory requirements in committing him to the Department of Juvenile Justice. For the following reasons, we affirm.
¶ 3 On April 19, 2018, the State filed a petition for the adjudication of wardship of Johnathan T. alleging that he committed 10 acts of aggravated criminal sexual assault against B.A.B., a minor who was seven years old at the time of the incidents, in violation of section 11-1.30(b)(i) of the Criminal Code of 2012 ( 720 ILCS 5/11-1.30(b)(i) (West 2018)). The alleged acts occurred between August 1, 2017, and January 18, 2018, when Johnathan T. was 15 and 16 years old. Counts I through VII alleged that Johnathan T. committed acts of sexual penetration with B.A.B. by placing his penis in contact with B.A.B.’s anus. Counts VIII through X alleged that Johnathan T. committed acts of sexual penetration by placing his penis in contact with B.A.B.’s vagina.
¶ 4 On November 15, 2019, the parties appeared in court for an adjudication hearing on the State's petition. The evidence presented at the adjudicatory hearing established that from August 2017 until January 18, 2018, Johnathan T.’s mother, Christi, babysat B.A.B. after school when B.A.B. was in the first grade. Johnathan T. was also present at Christi's house after school at times when B.A.B. was present along with other children that Christi babysat. On Friday, January 19, 2018, B.A.B. told her father that Johnathan T. had been touching her while she was being babysat at Christi's house. B.A.B. told her father that Johnathan T. would take her into his room and touch her private area. B.A.B.’s father called the police, who began investigating the allegations.
¶ 5 A forensic interviewer, Dawn Wright, interviewed B.A.B. at a child advocacy center on January 24, 2018. The circuit court admitted a video recording of the forensic interview as substantive evidence.1 During the forensic interview, B.A.B. told Wright that Johnathan T. had touched her "pee pee." B.A.B. explained to Wright that Johnathan T. laid her face down on the floor, unbuttoned his pants, and took his privates and touched her privates. B.A.B. also told Wright that Johnathan T. took his "weenie" and touched her "pee pee" with their pants down. B.A.B. stated that Johnathan T. would put his "weenie" inside her "pee pee" and described occasions when Johnathan T. laid her down and put his "weenie" in her butt. She specifically stated that Johnathan T. put his "weenie" in her butt seven or eight times and that he put his "weenie" in her "pee pee" two or three times. B.A.B. also told Wright that Johnathan T. had touched her breasts with his hands underneath her clothes. B.A.B. told Wright that when Johnathan T. put his "weenie" in her butt it hurt, and when Johnathan T. he put his "weenie" in her "pee pee," it hurt at first but that she got used to it.
¶ 6 A child abuse pediatrician, Dr. Kathy Swafford, conducted a medical abuse examination of B.A.B. in February 2018. Prior to the physical examination, Dr. Swafford learned that the incidents, as reported by B.A.B., involved Johnathan T. lying on top of B.A.B. and putting his "weenie *** in her butt and then in her private area." According to Dr. Swafford, when she asked B.A.B. about the incidents, B.A.B. did not report any bleeding but stated that the incidents were painful.
¶ 7 At the adjudicatory hearing, Dr. Swafford opined that B.A.B. had a normal physical exam and had negative screening for sexually transmitted diseases
or urinary tract infection. Dr. Swafford explained to the circuit court that although there were no physical findings indicative of sexual abuse, when the physical examination is conducted two weeks or more after the abuse, any physical findings typically would have healed. Dr. Swafford also explained that in 94% to 98% of cases involving sexual abuse of children there is no specific residual physical finding.
¶ 8 A police investigator interviewed Johnathan T. with the permission of Johnathan T.’s parents. At the adjudicatory hearing, the investigator told the circuit court that during the interview Johnathan T. denied doing anything sexual in nature toward B.A.B. Instead, Johnathan T. told the investigator that he was never alone with B.A.B. and never touched B.A.B. inappropriately but admitted to wrestling with her and holding her arms down. In addition, the investigator told the circuit court that Johnathan T.’s parents reported to him that they never witnessed anything inappropriate between Johnathan T. and B.A.B. and that B.A.B. had a history of lying.
¶ 9 The investigator also interviewed B.A.B.’s grandmother. According to the grandmother, B.A.B. told the grandmother that Johnathan T. had touched her inappropriately. The grandmother told the investigator that B.A.B. demonstrated some "humping motions" and stated that Johnathan T. had touched her with his penis "in the front and the back."
¶ 10 B.A.B. testified at the adjudication hearing via closed circuit television and told the circuit court about the incidents. At the time of her testimony, B.A.B. was nine years old and was in the third grade. B.A.B. testified that Johnathan T. was at Christi's house when she was dropped off there after school when she was in the first grade beginning in August 2017. B.A.B. testified that, while being babysat, Johnathan T. pulled her pants down and kissed her and touched her private area with his privates. She testified that Johnathan T. touched her with his privates "usually around the back area and stuff." She testified that Johnathan T. also touched her privates with his privates and that it usually happened just about every time she was at Christi's house. B.A.B. testified that initially she did not know that anything was wrong with what Johnathan T. was doing but later she realized that "something wasn't right."
¶ 11 Johnathan T. testified at the adjudicatory hearing that he was never alone with B.A.B. and that he never engaged in any inappropriate sexual behavior with her. He denied pulling his pants down in front of B.A.B. and denied touching her. Johnathan T.’s mother, Christi, also testified that Johnathan T. was never alone with B.A.B. However, Christi agreed that Johnathan T. could have been at the neighbor's house with B.A.B. and would have been out of her sight.
¶ 12 The circuit court took the matter under advisement and, on December 4, 2019, entered an order finding Johnathan T. guilty on all counts beyond a reasonable doubt. The circuit court found B.A.B. to be credible and noted that her testimony was "spectacular in certain details."
¶ 13 After the circuit court found Johnathan T. guilty of the 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, the circuit court directed the probation department to prepare a social investigation report and ordered Johnathan T. to undergo a sex offender evaluation prior to the dispositional hearing. During the sex offender evaluation, the evaluator asked Johnathan T., "What kind of job is your lawyer doing?" Johnathan T. replied, A report of the sex offender evaluation, which included Johnathan T.’s answer to the social worker's question about the defense attorney, and the social investigation report prepared by the probation department were filed with the circuit court prior to the dispositional hearing and were reviewed by the circuit court before the dispositional hearing. The probation officer that prepared the social investigation report reported that he asked Johnathan T. if he would like to make a written statement, and Johnathan T. declined to do so.
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