The Law Offices of Kathleen Colton, Ltd.
Criminal Defense / P.O. Box 1364 / St. Charles, IL 60174
AURORA MAN ACQUITTED OF JUVENILE
SEX CHARGE CONSENSUAL ACT
(Girl lied about age, included sex on
Internet-posted hobby list)
The Beacon News, March 15, 2000
Bt Gloria Carr
Staff Writer
Jurors took 55 minutes Tuesday to find a Aurora man innocent of having illegal sex with a 14-year-old who listed her hobbies on her America Online profile as singing, dancing and sex.
That the jury took less than an hour to find Teneldric M. Boykins, 21, innocent showed the weakness of the prosecution’s case, defense attorney Kathleen Colton said.
Colton said she didn’t know why the Kane County state’s attorney’s office even prosecuted the case, given that the teen-ager admitted she never told Boykins her age and she willingly had sex with him. The defense also introduced an America online profile the girl wrote.
“In my opinion, the primary motivation behind it is the fact it is an election year,” she said. I cannot honestly think of any other reason why they would have prosecuted this case.”
State’s Attorney David Akemann is running again for the Republican nomination in the March 21 primary against GOP challengers Meg Gorecki and Joe Grady.
A grand jury indicted Boykins in November on the charges. A two-day trial this week included testimony by the girl, now 15, and Boykins, as well as witnesses who testify they heard Boykins say he was sorry and he didn’t know her age.
Colton Said the girl admitted she wanted people to think she was older. She didn’t tell Boykins her real age until days after the encounter. Boykins broke off the relationship immediately, Colton said
According to testimony, the girl’s stepfather read about the incident in her diary. Her family pursued charges against Boykins, Colton said.
The Kane County state’s attorney’s office is so “politically motivated” it is incapable of properly evaluating a case, she said. “There no sense of justice in that office, period.”
Joseph McMahon, chief of the criminal justice division, said it’s common for Colton to disagree with the prosecution of a case. Colton has never been in the position of making the decision assistant state’s attorneys must make, he said.
He said Colton is grandstanding by turning the case into a political attack on the State’s attorney’s office.
“This case has nothing to do with an election, and it’s irresponsible for Ms. Colton to make those comments when she in unaware of the decision process we go through when we charge and try cases,” McMahon said.
