Sex offender acquitted in Willowbrook sexual assault case
A Bellwood man who is a convicted sex offender has been acquitted of the January 2014 criminal sexual assault of a Willowbrook woman.
DuPage Judge George Bakalis on Friday handed down a nine-page written ruling that both Albert Scott, 30, and the victim lacked credibility in their testimony, but that the evidence did not establish Scott's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
"The evidence produced here raises too many unanswered questions and raises too many doubts and falls short of proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Bakalis wrote. "The court enters a finding of not guilty."
Prosecutors argued Scott sexually assaulted the woman, with whom he had previously had an on-again, off-again relationship, in her home on the evening of Jan. 18, 2014.
The woman testified Scott came to her home that afternoon to retrieve some clothing and personal items but became angry after seeing a photo of her with another man.
She said he chased her around the bedroom and pinned her arms down with his legs but she was able to calm him down and defuse the situation. Evidence in the case showed she then texted a friend the message "send police here."
By the time the friend got the message and police arrived, prosecutors said, Scott had forced the victim to perform oral sex before he fled.
Scott, however, took the stand in his own defense and said the woman invited him to her home to get his stuff and suggested and initiated the sexual conduct by kissing his cheek and licking his ear before she performed the sex act, which he maintained involved a "tub of Cool Whip" on the victim's nightstand.
"There is no doubt that a sexual encounter occurred," Bakalis wrote. "(The woman's) testimony was filled with responses of 'I don't remember.' She cannot remember or was not willing to testify about what the particulars were that lead to her claim of sexual assault. She admitted that the defendant had not used force in the incident, never held her or restrained her in any matter."
Scott has been held on $1 million bail since his March 2014 arrest by sheriff's detectives and the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Task Force.