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Lakemoor man sentenced to prison for 2018 sexual assault

A 28-year-old Lakemoor man was sentenced to prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a woman he knew in September 2018.

McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt sentenced Kevin F. Graf to four years in prison for convictions of criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse. Graf, of the 500 block of Summer Boulevard, was accused of wrestling the woman to the ground and sexually assaulting her at her house, according to the victim's testimony at trial.

Graf must serve at least 85% of his sentence in accordance with Illinois Truth in Sentencing guidelines, and is required to register for life as a sex offender.

Wilbrandt found Graf guilty of the charges after a two-day trial by judge in February.

According to the woman's testimony, she and Graf were spending time together and playing video games at her house the night of Sept. 16, 2018. They drank and played games into the next day, when Graf approached her from behind and gave her a "bear hug," she testified.

When she told him to stop, Graf knocked a video game controller out of her hand, wrestled her to the ground and sexually assaulted her, she said.

During a subsequent recorded police interviewed that prosecutors showed at trial, Graf would go on to tell officers he knew what he did was wrong and admitted to hearing the woman say 'no' multiple times.

When Graf took the stand in February, however, he claimed his judgment at the time of the interview was clouded by the growing "Me Too movement." His statements to police weren't an admission, but rather an expression of how bad he felt knowing the woman believed he assaulted her, he said.

In reaching a verdict, Wilbrandt said he didn't find Graf's testimony to be credible.

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