In Re TC

894 N.E.2d 876
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 22, 2008
Docket1-07-0393
StatusPublished

This text of 894 N.E.2d 876 (In Re TC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re TC, 894 N.E.2d 876 (Ill. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

894 N.E.2d 876 (2008)

In re T.C., a Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Traven C., Respondent-Appellant).

No. 1-07-0393.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

August 22, 2008.

*878 Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago (Michael J. Pelletier, Brian A McNeil, of counsel), for Appellee.

State's Attorney, Chicago (James E. Fitzegerald, Mary Boland, Samuel Shim and Colleen Keough, of counsel), for Appellant.

Presiding Justice FITZGERALD SMITH delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a juvenile court proceeding, T.C., a minor, was adjudicated delinquent of aggravated criminal sexual assault and sentenced to five years of probation. As a result of being adjudicated delinquent of aggravated criminal sexual assault, T.C. was classified as a "sexual predator" pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) (730 ILCS 150/1 et seq. (West 2004)), thereby mandating him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his natural life. On appeal, T.C. argues that the State failed to prove him delinquent beyond a reasonable doubt and that he should have been afforded the right to a jury trial as a safeguard against the burdensome requirements of SORA.

At the juvenile proceeding, the victim, P.W., testified that on May 25, 2003, when he was in second grade, he was at his great-grandmother's house. T.C., his cousin, was also there. P.W. testified that he was lying on a bed in the basement when T.C. came downstairs and got in bed behind P.W., pulled down the back of his pants, and put his penis near P.W.'s anus. When asked by the State if he felt it "touching" when T.C. put his penis to P.W.'s anus, P.W. responded, "Yes." When asked if he knew what his anus was for, P.W. responded, "Poop." P.W. testified that he told T.C. to stop in a loud voice, at which point T.C. told P.W. he would "beat his ass." P.W. averred that he believed T.C. would beat him up and that he was afraid. The incident lasted about one minute. P.W. testified further that a few days later he told his mother about the incident when his "behind start[ed] itching," and that he did not immediately tell anyone because he was scared.

*879 Christina Frenzel, an assistant State's Attorney, testified that on July 24, 2003, she met with T.C. and his mother. At that time, T.C. gave a handwritten statement, which was published to the court.

In his statement, T.C. indicated that he was 14 years old and that P.W. was his cousin. He knew P.W. was "probably" in second grade. T.C. stated that on the date in question, he and P.W. were in the basement playing, and he bit P.W.'s butt. T.C. stated that they were "playing gay" and both P.W. and T.C. pulled their pants down to their ankles. He stated that they were lying on the bed, that his penis was hard, and that his "penis touched [P.W.] on the butt near the top center area."

At the close of evidence, the trial court found T.C. guilty of aggravated criminal sexual assault pursuant to section 12-14(b) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Criminal Code). 720 ILCS 5/12-14(b) (West 2004). At the sentencing hearing, the trial court determined that it was in the best interest of T.C. that he be made a ward of the court. As such, he was placed on five years' probation, and required to perform 60 hours of community service. T.C. now appeals.

T.C.'s first argument on appeal is that the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. When a court considers a challenge to a finding of delinquency based on the sufficiency of the evidence the standard of review is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Sutherland, 223 Ill.2d 187, 242, 307 Ill.Dec. 524, 860 N.E.2d 178 (2006).

T.C. was adjudicated delinquent pursuant to section 12-14(b)(i) of the Criminal Code, which states that an individual commits aggravated criminal sexual assault if the accused was under 17 years of age and commits an act of sexual penetration with a victim who was under 9 years of age when the act was committed. 720 ILCS 5/12-14(b)(i) (West 2004). T.C. concedes that he was under 17 on the date of the incident, and that P.W. was under 9 years of age. He argues, however, that the State failed to prove that T.C. committed an act of sexual penetration beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sexual penetration is defined as "any contact, however slight, between the sex organ or anus of one person by an object, the sex organ, mouth, or anus of another person." 720 ILCS 5/12-12(f) (West 2004). See also People v. Gardner, 172 Ill.App.3d 763, 766, 122 Ill.Dec. 783, 527 N.E.2d 155 (1988) (finding that defendant's attempt to penetrate victim's vagina, although unsuccessful, was an act of penetration for purposes of an aggravated sexual criminal assault conviction, as sexual penetration is defined as "any contact, however slight, between the sex organ of one person and the sex organ of another person"); see also People v. Velasco, 216 Ill.App.3d 578, 589, 159 Ill.Dec. 147, 575 N.E.2d 954 (1991) (finding that because "criminal sexual assault does not require physical penetration," the fact that defendant touched the victim's genitals with his mouth was sufficient to satisfy the element of penetration). The evidence presented at trial was that P.W. testified that T.C. put his penis by P.W.'s anus, and when asked if he felt it "touching" when respondent put his penis to P.W.'s anus, P.W. responded, "Yes." Additionally, respondent, in his handwritten statement, stated that his penis was hard and that his penis "touched [P.W.] on the butt near the top center area." When asked what his anus was used for, P.W. responded, "Poop." Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we find that any rational trier of fact *880 could have found, based on this evidence, that respondent's penis touched P.W.'s anus, thus satisfying the element of penetration beyond a reasonable doubt.

T.C.'s next argument on appeal is that section 5-101(3) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (Juvenile Court Act), which denies minors the right to a jury trial except in certain circumstances, is an unconstitutional violation of due process as applied to him. 705 ILCS 405/5-101(3) (West 2004). Specifically, T.C. contends that the consequences of being found delinquent of aggravated criminal sexual assault are so burdensome that they deprive him of a liberty interest and that as such, the right to a jury trial should be required as a procedural safeguard to prevent such deprivation of a liberty interest. We disagree.

Our statutes are presumed to be constitutional and the burden of establishing a statute's invalidity falls on the party challenging it. People v. Stanley, 369 Ill. App.3d 441, 448, 307 Ill.Dec. 689, 860 N.E.2d 343 (2006). The constitutionality of a statute is reviewed de novo.

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Bluebook (online)
894 N.E.2d 876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-tc-illappct-2008.