Downstate man gets 16 years for raping sisters in DuPage County

A 42-year-old Decatur man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for repeatedly raping his twin 8-year-old cousins in their DuPage County house.

Donald Nuckles was convicted, during a March bench trial, of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and two counts of criminal sexual abuse. The twins' older sister testified during Monday's hearing that she, too, was molested by Nuckles in her family's Glen Ellyn home and other places.

Judge George Bakalis weighed the third girl's testimony, despite it coming after Nuckles' conviction, and deemed it credible to factor into his sentencing decision.

When asked why she finally came forward with allegations, the third girl, now 15, began to cry on the witness stand.

"I want (Nuckles) to know what he did to me," she said. "And I want him to feel as bad as I do."

Assistant State's Attorney Nicole Wilkes-English said Nuckles sexually assaulted the two younger girls on multiple occasions between May 1 and Aug. 30, 2011.

"He violated their trust in the most vile and egregious manner," she said.

Authorities became aware of the allegations in March 2013 when the twins told their mother that Nuckles had touched them inappropriately on several occasions.

In her victim impact statement, which she read, the girls' mother said she looked up to Nuckles like a brother and opened her home to him.

"I always taught my girls to listen to adults but now we struggle with this," she said. "We've begun the healing process but this has forever changed my whole family."

Nuckles' own two teen daughters testified Nuckles was a hardworking father who won a custody battle to rescue them from a bad situation and worked 12-hour shifts to provide for them before his arrest.

Prior to being sentenced, Nuckles told Bakalis he is "1,000 percent innocent" of the charges.

"I don't know where this comes from but this is something I couldn't fathom happening to any child," he said.

Nuckles was charged after an investigation by the DuPage County Children's Center and has been held on a $250,000 bond in DuPage County jail since October 2013.

Of the 16 year sentence, Nuckles must serve just more than 12 years before being eligible for parole. He also receives credit for the 665 days he has been in custody. When he is released, he is required to register as a lifetime sex-offender and faces between three years to life of sex-offender parole.