Court: Closer evaluation needed for Elgin sex assault convict

An appellate court panel has ordered a closer fitness evaluation of a 29-year-old Elgin man with mental disabilities who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for sexual assault.

Patrick A. Cook, formerly of the 800 block of Jefferson Avenue, was declared fit to stand trial even though an evaluation showed his maturity level was that of a 6- or 7-year-old, records show.

Cook was arrested in May 2010 and charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13 and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to Kane County court records.

Cook was accused of sexually assaulting the victim between August 2008 and December 2009, records show.

Cook pleaded guilty in February 2013 in exchange for other less serious charges being dismissed, and was sentenced by Judge Susan Clancy Boles.

In its ruling, the appellate court panel said a previous judge erred when he stipulated to an evaluation report that concluded Cook was fit to stand trial and understood the court proceedings.

The evaluation was made even though Cook's IQ was in the bottom percentile for adults, and when he was sentenced, his defense attorney said Cook was unable to live on his own and needed someone to remind him to do basic tasks such as dressing and setting an alarm.

The appellate court ruled that Judge David Akemann needed to hold a fitness hearing if a bona fide doubt was raised and the judge could not make a fitness determination based solely on stipulating to a report.

The appellate panel said the judge needed to take an active, not passive, role in determining fitness, and ordered a new hearing.

"It is incumbent upon the court to make a record reflecting that it do more than merely base its fitness finding on the stipulation to the expert's ultimate conclusion," the panel wrote. "The court must state on the record the factual basis for its finding, which must be more than a mere acceptance of a stipulation that the defendant is fit or that an expert found the defendant fit."

The date for the new fitness hearing has not been set.

The appellate ruling does not set Cook free, it just ensures a new fitness hearing.

If found unfit, Cook's guilty plea could be undone. If he is still found fit for trial, the guilty plea and prison term will stand.