The Judge
An Illinois judge reversed a 16-year-old girl’s rape conviction. Furthermore, on February 23, Adam County Judge Robert Adrian was removed from his position by the Illinois Courts Commission after officials discovered what he had done. According to a judicial oversight body, he circumvented the law and engaged in misconduct. Subsequently, he was removed from the bench after a three-day hearing. That took place in November.
After the complaint was filed against Adrian, decisions were made saying the judge had “engaged in multiple instances of misconduct” and “abused his position of power to indulge his sense of justice while circumventing the law.” Upon Adrian’s reversal of the rape conviction, he let 18-year-old Drew Clinton walk free. The victim of the rape case is now coming out after the removal of the judge, saying, “You can not hurt me anymore.”
In 2022, Judge Adrian through away the case, After the state Judicial Inquiry Board filed a complaint against him. Adrian said five months in jail was “plenty of punishment.” Adrian told the Chicago Tribune that the decision to take him off the bench was “totally a miscarriage of justice. I did what was right. I’ve always told the truth about it.”
By law, the Court is supposed to sentence this young man to the Department of Corrections. This Court will not do that. That is not just. 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.
The Victim
Additionally, the victim, Cameron Vaughan, was prepared to give her speech and was disappointed when the court told her she couldn’t present the speech that she had made for the sentence. She said the attack had an immediate impact on her life. When Adrian was asked whether he felt bad for what happened to her he said, “I feel sorry that she was used by this not-for-profit group who put her out. It should have never been done to a minor like that after she didn’t give truthful testimony in the case.” According to Adrian, “She wasn’t raped. That [she had been] was the original finding. After I reconsidered, and it was pointed out to me that there wasn’t evidence that she was unable to consent, then I had to find him not guilty.”
Cameron was accused of lying and blaming her parents because of what happened to her. During an interview, Adrian put blame on Cameron by saying she provided the alcohol that was at the party.
Vaughan denies these claims Adrian made because she was intoxicated, a pillow was forced on her face, and she struggled to breathe. She stated the judge said, “This is what happens whenever parents allow teenagers to drink alcohol, to swim in pools with their undergarments on.”
For instance, the judge said “This young lady brought alcohol into the party, gave it to different people. And I thought it was the parents who had the party’s responsibility to watch over the kids. They’re the ones to have the responsibility here. They’re the ones that are supposed to be safekeeping the kids. Instead, they’re providing liquor to them, or letting them do whatever they want,” Adrian said.
Clinton
In October 2021, Adrian found Drew Clinton guilty of one count of criminal sexual assault. After being accused of raping a then-16-year-old girl at a graduation party in May of 2021.
Adrian knew he was supposed to follow through on the mandatory four-year sentence against Clinton. But instead, Adrian did not want to follow through with the rape case and send Clinton to prison. “That is not just,” Adrian said at the sentencing hearing, according to court transcripts. “I will not do that.”
Cameron told the press in November, that when she heard that the judge reversed Clinton’s verdict she was in complete shock. The county court records showed that Clinton overturned Clinton’s guilty verdict. He went over it again and didn’t find evidence.
The commission wrote that it seemed Adrian was saying he “did not believe Clinton deserved to go to prison for sexual assault. The female victim was voluntarily intoxicated and swam in her underwear.”
In conclusion, Clinton cannot be tried again for the same crime under the Fifth Amendment. A motion to expunge Clinton’s record was denied in February 2023.
Written by Samaria Payton
NBC Chicago- Illinois Judge who sparked outrage after reversing rape conviction removed from bench
Law and Crime- ‘You cannot hurt me anymore’: Teen fires back at judge for saying ‘she wasn’t raped’ on TV after he’s removed from office for reversal of sexual assault conviction
News Nation- ‘Lies’: Victim fires back after judge says she wasn’t raped
ABC7 news- Illinois judge who reversed rape conviction removed from the bench after panel finds he circumvented the law
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