2025 IL App (2d) 240360 No. 2-24-0360 Opinion filed June 27, 2025 ______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court OF ILLINOIS, ) of Kane County. ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) No. 22-CF-1611 ) MAGDIEL PEREZ, ) Honorable ) John A. Barsanti, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE MULLEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Kennedy and Justice Hutchinson concurred in the judgment and opinion.
OPINION
¶1 Following a bench trial, defendant, Magdiel Perez, was convicted of two counts of criminal
sexual assault while holding a position of trust or authority relative to the victim (720 ILCS 5/11-
1.20(a)(4) (West 2020)). The trial court sentenced defendant to a four-year term of imprisonment
for each count of criminal sexual assault, to be served consecutively. Defendant appeals, arguing
that, because the State failed to prove that he held a position of trust or authority at the time of the
sexual acts, the evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Because
the evidence was sufficient to show that defendant held a position of trust or authority at the time,
we affirm.
¶2 I. BACKGROUND 2025 IL App (2d) 240360
¶3 The State charged defendant in a nine-count indictment. As pertinent here, counts I and II
alleged that defendant committed criminal sexual assault while holding a “position of trust or
authority” relative to the victim, Y.A. The charges stemmed from defendant’s interactions with
Y.A. when she was a 13-year-old student at Tefft Middle School (Tefft), where defendant was
employed as a hall monitor. Counts I and II charged defendant with acts of sexual penetration with
Y.A. that occurred between May 1, 2022, and August 30, 2022.
¶4 Defendant waived his right to a jury trial. A bench trial was held on March 1, 2024. The
State’s first witness was Luis DeLeon, who worked at Tefft for six years, including in 2022. While
employed at Tefft, DeLeon knew Y.A., a seventh-grade student during the 2021-22 school year.
Tefft employed defendant as a hall monitor while Y.A. was enrolled there. DeLeon explained that
a hall monitor is an hourly employee with the school district who “supervises the hallways, helps
out to direct students to classrooms, and make sure that if they are out of the classroom they have
a pass, or also helps with arrival, dismissal, and lunch logistics in the building.” A hall monitor is
not considered a “school professional,” a substitute teacher, or a teacher’s aide and does not have
any classroom duties. A hall monitor’s role does not include “giv[ing] counseling to students.”
However, if a hall monitor “sees a student having problems” or “need[ing] support,” the monitor’s
“role [is] to direct [the student] *** to *** support staff that [can] help out to provide guidance
***.” A hall monitor also monitors behavior in classrooms, reports any behavioral concerns to the
administration, and “diffuse[s] situations such as fights[.]” Hall monitors are not permitted to have
personal relationships with students or contact students outside of the school setting.
¶5 DeLeon testified that defendant was placed on administrative leave in the fall of 2022 while
Tefft investigated whether he violated school policy by having interactions with a student outside
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of school hours. Defendant’s employment was ultimately terminated after school administrators
determined that he had been communicating with students over smartphone messaging apps.
¶6 The State next called David Smith, a criminal investigator with the Kane County Child
Advocacy Center (KCCAC). Smith interviewed defendant about his potential criminal activity
involving Y.A. The interview was video recorded, and the video was admitted into evidence.
During the interview, defendant explained that he was on administrative leave from Tefft for
messaging students. He had worked at Tefft as a hall monitor. According to defendant, hall
monitors would prevent fights and ensure that students were going to classes. Hall monitors were
available if the students “need[ed] someone to talk to.” They would escort students who had lost
their privileges. Hall monitors would also “overhear things” and advise the administration of “the
situation.”
¶7 Defendant said that, through his role as a hall monitor, he had gotten to know two twin
girls who were in seventh grade during the 2021-22 school year. He first got to know one of the
twins because she was frequently late to class and he would tell her she was late. He later got to
know the twins’ friend Y.A., who was also in seventh grade. The girls eventually added defendant
to a Facebook Messenger group chat. Defendant began responding to their messages in the group
chat shortly before the end of the school year, even though he knew the school had a policy against
messaging students. During the 2022 summer break, defendant continued to exchange messages
with the girls and occasionally met up with them. Defendant admitted engaging in the alleged acts
of sexual penetration with Y.A. during summer break, once in his bedroom and once in the
bathroom of the park district facility where he was employed. That fall, he returned to his role as
hall monitor at Tefft for one week before he was placed on administrative leave.
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¶8 The State next called Y.A. She stated that she knew defendant from Tefft, where he worked
as a hall monitor. She met him when she was 12 and began communicating with him outside of
school (through text messages and messenger apps) during seventh grade. By the end of the school
year, she had turned 13. She first visited his home “during school,” i.e., she skipped school to see
him. Throughout their interactions during the 2022 summer break (after Y.A.’s seventh-grade
year), Y.A. spoke to defendant about problems at home, met him at the park to play basketball,
and went with him to a 7-Eleven and a mall. Y.A. recounted one of several visits to defendant’s
home during summer break. During that visit, defendant sexually touched and penetrated Y.A. in
his bedroom. After the visit, he drove her to a location near her home, and she walked the rest of
the way to her house. Y.A. did not testify to any sexual conduct with defendant that occurred at
any time other than during the 2022 summer break.
¶9 The State entered into evidence a driving abstract listing defendant’s birth date, proving he
would have been 25 years old at the time of the sexual conduct.
¶ 10 Once the State rested, defense counsel made a motion for a directed finding on counts I, II,
V, and VIII (the State nol-prossed counts III, IV, and IX before trial). Counsel argued, as to counts
I, II, and V, that the State failed to prove that defendant was in a position of trust or authority when
the sexual conduct occurred. The trial court denied the motion, reasoning in part:
“Here’s what I’m going to find at this particular point. This is what I think. I think
defendant was a hall monitor and what his job was was to show authority over the students.
I think that is clear. I mean, I’m using a definition in my own mind which I think a hall
monitor would do.”
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However, the court granted defendant a directed finding on counts V and VIII on other grounds.
Counts I and II—charging criminal sexual assault—and counts VI and VII—charging aggravated
criminal sexual abuse (id. § 11-1.60(c)(1)(ii))—remained.
¶ 11 The defense presented no evidence. In a written decision, the trial court found defendant
guilty of counts I and II, as well as counts VI and VII. Counts VI and VII merged into counts I and
II. In its decision, the court found that defendant held a position of “trust or authority” relative to
Y.A. The court reasoned that (1) defendant’s “duties [as a hall monitor] were to patrol the hallways
of the school giving assistance, aid, and control to the students of the school while traversing the
hallways”; (2) as a hall monitor, defendant was “authorized to control and supervise [Y.A.’s]
movements in the school, inquire as to her destinations or purposes,” and “assist[ ] [Y.A.] and
other students with questions and information”; (3) defendant “at times would discuss with Y.A.
her problems and issues”; and (4) defendant “could *** report [Y.A.’s] actions to school
authorities.”
¶ 12 Defense counsel filed a motion for a new trial, asserting that the trial court erred when it
denied defendant’s motion for a directed finding on the criminal sexual assault charges. At the
hearing on the motion for a new trial, defense counsel argued that defendant never “used his
position of trust or authority to exert undue influence over [Y.A.]” or “threatened or coerced or
used his authority to get her to provide sexual favors and if *** she withheld that he would
discipline her. The trial court denied the motion and sentenced defendant to a four-year term of
imprisonment for each count of criminal sexual assault, to be served consecutively.
¶ 13 II. ANALYSIS
¶ 14 On appeal, defendant contends that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of
criminal sexual assault because the evidence was insufficient to establish that, when he committed
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the sexual acts, he held a position of trust or authority relative to Y.A. First, defendant argues that
he was not working as a hall monitor—and thus was not in a position of authority—during summer
break, when the alleged offenses occurred. Second, he argues that any “subjective feelings of trust”
Y.A. may have felt toward him were insufficient to establish that he held a position of trust.
¶ 15 When presented with a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, this court does not
attempt to retry the defendant by independently assessing whether the evidence at trial established
guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d 237, 261 (1985). The trier of fact is
responsible for resolving conflicts in the testimony, weighing the evidence, and drawing
reasonable inferences from the facts. People v. Campbell, 146 Ill. 2d 363, 375 (1992). Therefore,
we seek to determine 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 proved
beyond a reasonable doubt. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d at 261. We will not set aside the conviction unless
the evidence is “so unreasonable, improbable, or unsatisfactory as to justify a reasonable doubt of
defendant’s guilt.” People v. Smith, 185 Ill. 2d 532, 542 (1999).
¶ 16 Section 11-1.20(a)(4) of the Criminal Code of 2012 (Code) (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20(a)(4)
(West 2020)) provides:
“(a) A person commits criminal sexual assault if that person commits an act of
sexual penetration and:
***
(4) is 17 years of age or over and holds a position of trust, authority, or
supervision in relation to the victim, and the victim is at least 13 years of age but
under 18 years of age.”
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¶ 17 On appeal, defendant does not dispute that he and Y.A. met the age elements of the offenses
or that he committed acts of sexual penetration with Y.A. He argues only that the State failed to
establish the “position” element of the offenses. Under section 11-1.20(a)(4), the State may convict
a defendant by proving he “held a position of trust or authority or supervision when he committed
the sexual conduct”—any one of those three alternatives is sufficient. (Emphases in original.)
People v. Miki, 2020 IL App (2d) 190862, ¶ 56. It is the responsibility of the fact finder to
determine whether the defendant held one of these positions relative to the victim. People v.
Carter, 2022 IL App (1st) 210261, ¶ 62.
¶ 18 Here, defendant was charged with committing the sexual conduct while holding a “position
of trust or authority” relative to Y.A. In its written decision, the trial court found that defendant
held a “position of trust or authority” relative to Y.A. (Emphasis added.) Defendant argues that
the State failed to prove that he held either position relative to Y.A. We hold that the State proved
that defendant’s position relative to Y.A. was of both trust and authority. Because the State never
charged defendant with holding a position of supervision relative to Y.A., we do not consider that
element.
¶ 19 Words used in a statute are presumed to have their ordinary, popularly understood
meanings. People v. Secor, 279 Ill. App. 3d 389, 396 (1996). Courts have noted that “[a]uthority”
is defined as “[t]he power to command, enforce laws, exact obedience, determine, or judge,” and
that “trust” is defined as “[c]onfidence in the integrity, ability, character, and truth of a person
***[;] [s]omething committed into the care of another.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id. By
enacting a statute specific to an offender who “holds a position of trust, authority, or supervision
in relation to [a] victim *** [who] is at least 13 years of age but under 18 years of age” (720 ILCS
5/11-1.20(a)(4) (West 2020)), “the legislature sought to prevent sex offenses by those whom a
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child would tend to obey, such as a teacher or coach, as well as those in whom the child has placed
his trust.” Secor, 279 Ill. App. 3d at 396.
¶ 20 First, we hold that defendant, as a hall monitor, held a position of authority relative to Y.A.
Defendant acknowledges that he arguably held a position of authority relative to Y.A. during the
school year. However, he contends that he was not in a position of authority during summer break,
when the charged offenses occurred. We disagree.
¶ 21 In People v. Breshears, 2023 IL App (4th) 220947, ¶¶ 1, 3, the defendant appealed his
convictions of criminal sexual assault based on his holding a position of trust, authority, or
supervision relative to the 17-year-old victim. The evidence at trial was that the defendant owned
a martial arts gym where the victim took classes taught by the defendant. Id. ¶ 7. The defendant
argued on appeal that the State failed to prove the “position” element of the offenses. Id. ¶ 35. One
of his arguments was that he was not in a position of authority at the time of the sexual conduct
that occurred during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he closed his gym to the public.
Id. ¶¶ 45-46. The court rejected the argument, stating:
“a rational jury could have determined that the nature of [the] defendant’s relationship with
[the victim] did not change merely because COVID-19 temporarily halted formal
instruction. By analogy, it would be absurd to conclude that a teacher may not be convicted
of a crime for continuing a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student during a school
break.” Id. ¶ 46.
¶ 22 Here, defendant argues that, because he was merely an hourly employee at the school, his
authority over Y.A. “was limited to the halls of the school, during the school year.” But, consistent
with the court’s observation in Breshears, a rational fact finder could conclude that the nature of
defendant’s relationship with Y.A. did not change the instant they stepped off school grounds or
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the moment summer break began. As a hall monitor, defendant had the authority to make sure
students were not out of class without a hall pass and to report students for misbehavior. Notably,
Y.A. testified that she skipped school to visit defendant’s home for the first time. From these facts,
a rational fact finder could conclude that defendant’s authority relative to Y.A. persisted during
summer break because he retained the potential to act for Y.A.’s benefit or detriment once school
resumed. Thus, it would be reasonable to conclude that defendant’s authority continued to affect
the nature of his relationship with Y.A. even when classes were not in session.
¶ 23 We also hold that the State established that defendant held a position of trust relative to
Y.A. Defendant argues that, although Y.A. may have trusted him, the evidence failed to prove that
he was in a position of trust as required by section 11-1.20(a)(4) of the Code. Defendant asserts
that if a child’s “subjective feelings of trust” toward an adult were sufficient to establish that that
adult holds a position of trust, “nearly every adult would occupy such a position over nearly every
child, as children generally look to adults as authority figures.”
¶ 24 As evidence that the legislature did not intend such sweeping liability, defendant points
first to section 5-5-3.2(a)(14) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-5-3.2(a)(14) (West
2020)), which, for certain crimes, makes it an aggravating factor that the defendant “held a position
of trust or supervision such as, but not limited to, family member[,] *** teacher, scout leader, baby
sitter, or day care worker ***.” (Emphasis added.) “These positions,” defendant notes, “are ones
where parents and society generally entrust a child’s care and well-being to a particular
individual.” As defendant fails to acknowledge, however, the list in section 5-5-3.2(a)(14) is
expressly not meant to be exclusive.
¶ 25 More importantly, courts construing section 11-1.20(a)(4) of the Code have made clear that
the legislature appropriately left for the fact finder to determine whether, under a given set of facts,
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an individual occupies a “position of trust” relative to the victim. See, e.g., Secor, 279 Ill. App. 3d
at 396. In rejecting a due process argument that section 11-1.20(a)(4) is unconstitutionally vague,
the Secor court said that “[d]ue process does not require a ‘laundry list’ of all such positions of
trust, authority or supervision; where enumeration of all such positions is impractical, the
legislature may reasonably choose sufficiently broad language to encompass such situations.” Id.
The legislature aimed to punish one whose position or status, whatever it might be, “provide[d]
access and opportunity for [the] offense to occur.” People v. Grocesley, 384 Ill. App. 3d 682, 686
(2008) (citing People v. Kaminski, 246 Ill. App. 3d 77 (1993)). A hall monitor’s daily proximity
to and interaction with students, and duty to aid them, lent defendant an appearance of
trustworthiness. Thus, a fact finder would not have to rely on Y.A.’s mere “subjective feelings of
trust” to reasonably find that defendant held a position of trust relative to Y.A.
¶ 26 Defendant counters by citing Miki and Secor to show that “courts have *** tended to find
a defendant occupied a position of trust in situations where someone else entrusted a child to the
defendant’s care.” (Emphasis added.)
¶ 27 In Miki, we held that the defendant established a position of trust as the victim’s soccer
coach and employer. Miki, 2020 IL App (2d) 190862, ¶¶ 57-58. Moreover, that trust relationship
continued after the defendant no longer coached or employed the victim. Id. Our conclusion relied
on evidence that both the victim and the victim’s family had shown considerable trust in the
defendant’s integrity and character. Id. ¶¶ 58-59. Because the victim’s parents had allowed her to
ride alone with the defendant to soccer games and client meetings, the court concluded that the
victim would have been cognizant of the trust her parents had placed in the defendant, which in
turn would have reinforced her own trust in the defendant. Id. ¶ 59.
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¶ 28 In Secor, the victim was an overnight guest of the defendant’s son at the time of the criminal
sexual assault. Secor, 279 Ill. App. 3d at 391. The court found that the defendant held a position
of trust, in part because the evidence suggested that mutual trust existed between the victim’s and
the defendant’s families. Id. at 394.
¶ 29 Defendant attempts to distinguish this case from Miki and Secor by asserting that there was
no evidence to suggest that Y.A.’s family had entrusted her to his care or that her family even
knew she was with him. To support this assertion, defendant notes that Y.A. testified that he
dropped her off some distance from her home so that she would walk the rest of the way. We
disagree that defendant’s concealment of the relationship placed him beyond the scope of section
11-1.20(a)(4). Although a position of trust may be established when a victim’s family trusted the
defendant, the statute does not require it.
¶ 30 Of guidance here is Grocesley, where the defendant “acted as an assistant coach for [the
Joliet High School District (district)] during the 2005 and 2006 track seasons,” although he was
not a paid staff member, an official volunteer, or certified by the State of Illinois as an assistant
coach. Grocesley, 384 Ill. App. 3d at 684-85. The victim was a junior at one of the two high schools
in the district. Id. at 683. In October 2005, the defendant met the victim at a district high school
football game where she was cheerleading. Id. They spoke on two subsequent occasions at district
basketball games. Id. In December 2005, they began a sexual relationship. Id. In January or
February 2006, the victim saw the defendant speaking to track coaches at a district high school
track practice. Id. The victim and the defendant subsequently had sex one additional time before
he told her that he could not see her anymore because he was trying to straighten out his life and
become a track coach. Id.
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¶ 31 On appeal from his conviction of criminal sexual assault under section 11-1.20(a)(4) of the
Code, the defendant argued that the evidence was insufficient to show that he held a position of
trust, supervision, or authority relative to the victim, because (1) he was not an official coach and
(2) the victim did not know he was a coach when their relationship began. Id. at 685. The court
rejected both arguments. Id. at 685-87. The court rejected the latter argument by noting that section
11-1.20(a)(4) “does not require that the victim possess knowledge of the perpetrator’s position of
trust, authority or supervision in relation to her.” Id. at 686. The court noted that, although a
victim’s knowledge of the defendant’s position can influence the victim to engage in sexual
conduct, the statute applies generally where “a defendant’s position of trust, authority or
supervision in relation to a victim provides access and opportunity for an offense to occur.” Id.
(citing Kaminski, 246 Ill. App. 3d 77). The court explained that the defendant “occupied a position
of trust in relation to all the students of that school district, including [the victim]. By assuming
the position of assistant track coach, the defendant assumed a position of trust that our society
imposes upon those who undertake to teach and mentor our children.” Id. at 686-87.
¶ 32 Here, in contrast to Grocesley, Y.A. was aware at the outset of their relationship that
defendant was a hall monitor. That role, as we have explained, gave Y.A. sufficient reason to trust
him—and in turn was sufficient for a fact finder to conclude that defendant occupied a position of
trust. Even if Y.A.’s family did not know that defendant worked at her school, a rational fact finder
could determine that her family would have presumed that any hall monitor employed by Tefft
could be trusted with the welfare of their child. Further, applying the comments in Grocesley, we
note that both the school’s administration and society at large would have trusted defendant with
the welfare of all the students at Tefft, including Y.A. Because of the implicit trust placed in
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defendant by Y.A.’s family, the school administration, and society at large, Y.A. had reason to
believe in defendant’s integrity and character, and to trust him herself.
¶ 33 Based on the evidence presented, it would be reasonable for a trier of fact to conclude that
defendant was in a position of trust or authority relative to Y.A. Therefore, we have no basis for
reversing defendant’s convictions of criminal sexual assault.
¶ 34 III. CONCLUSION
¶ 35 For the reasons stated, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Kane County.
¶ 36 Affirmed.
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People v. Perez, 2025 IL App (2d) 240360
Decision Under Review: Appeal from the Circuit Court of Kane County, No. 22-CF- 1611; the Hon. John A. Barsanti, Judge, presiding.
Attorneys James E. Chadd, Christopher McCoy, and Patrick Hogan, of for State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Elgin, for appellant. Appellant:
Attorneys Jamie L. Mosser, State’s Attorney, of St. Charles (Patrick for Delfino, Edward R. Psenicka, and Miles J. Keleher, of State’s Appellee: Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.
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