Man acquitted in sex abuse case

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WOODSTOCK - Jurors deliberated for more than three hours Wednesday before acquitting a 40-year-old Johnsburg man accused of fondling a teenage family member.

Edward R. Bean walked out of the McHenry County courthouse a free man after jurors found him not guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after a three-day trial this week.

A teenage girl testified that Bean had molested her in January 2007 when she stayed at his home after a funeral.

The girl said Bean fondled her for about an hour on his living room couch while her mother was in the room, McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Kelly said. Bean testified that he accidentally brushed the girl while he was trying to get up from the couch.

The girl’s mother corroborated the teenager’s testimony. The mother testified that she saw the incident in January 2007 but didn’t prevent it, partially because the mother had been molested by two family members at a young age and partially because the mother had a learning disability, Kelly said.

In closing arguments Wednesday morning, Kelly said the mother’s background partially explained her inaction. The mother had testified that she thought molestation was normal behavior and that it wasn’t her place to say anything.

“This is shocking, this is appalling, this is sad,” Kelly told jurors.

But defense attorney Henry Sugden questioned the mother’s credibility, arguing that she would have wanted to prevent her daughter from being abused as she had.

“If this had happened, if she had truly seen this, she could have jumped up and stopped it,” Sugden said.

Sugden also pointed to several family members who said the alleged victim had a reputation within their family of exaggerating or being dishonest.

If Bean had been convicted, he could have been sentenced to probation or to between three and seven years in prison.