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Elgin rape suspect still unfit for trial, will get more treatment

A man declared unfit to stand trial on charges he lured a woman from a party in Elgin in 2013 and raped her behind a garage will be held and treated by the state for up to two more years in an effort to restore fitness, a Kane County judge ruled Wednesday.

Stanford E. Thompson, 35, of Chicago, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault by force, criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint stemming from what authorities say was an attack on a 25-year-old woman outside a party on the 400 block of Barrett Street.

After an evaluation by the Kane County Diagnostic Center, Thompson was declared unfit to stand trial in March 2015 and sent to the Illinois Department of Human Services for up to a year for fitness to be restored.

If a defendant remains unfit after a year, a discharge hearing is held before a judge and prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to meet the state's burden to prove a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If the state meets its burden, the defendant can be held and treated for up to more two years.

If the state fails to meet its burden, the defendant could be released or another hearing for involuntary commitment is held.

Kane County Judge John Barsanti ruled Wednesday the state met its burden of proof, and the woman's testimony from a previous hearing was "credible and believable" despite her admission she had alcohol and smoked marijuana at the August party.

"Her testimony was clear and concise and significantly corroborated," Barsanti said.

Barsanti said the woman testified she lost her glasses and cellphone during the attack but managed to get away. At the time of the arrest, Elgin police said several witnesses called 911 after hearing the woman scream for help.

Mental treatment plans and evaluation reports for defendants are sealed, but Assistant Public Defender Brenda Willett argued to Barsanti a May 12, 2016 report concluded Thompson was "not likely to ever achieve fitness" and he had "significant cognitive deficits."

"There is no known treatment that the report indicates would ever restore my client to fitness," Willett said.

Assistant State's Attorney Mark Stajdohar argued for the two-year option. "We don't know if there will be advances in science and technology (to treat Thompson)," he said.

If Thompson's fitness is restored and if convicted of the most severe charge, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

Police: Man lured, raped woman at party

Man accused of 2013 Elgin rape found unfit for trial

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