Rapist gets life for attacking woman on trail

Christopher Hanson showed no mercy in 2005 when he raped and tried to kill a 19-year-old woman on a jogging trail near Libertyville.

On Thursday, he was shown none himself as he again was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Hanson, 32, had to be resentenced because of a technical error in his first sentencing hearing, but even his tearful apology to the victim and her family did not alter the outcome.

"These were horrible crimes, crimes no one should ever have to worry would happen to their children," Circuit Judge Fred Foreman said. "The defendant has forfeited his right to walk among a free society forever."

On June 6, 2005, Hanson ran up behind the Wildwood woman as she was jogging, dragged her into a wooded area and raped her repeatedly.

He then stabbed her in the neck four times, inflicting one wound that came within a fraction of an inch of killing her.

The woman testified at Hanson's trial that she played dead until he left then ran to a nearby house for help.

Hanson, who was convicted of attacks on women in secluded areas in 1993 and 2000, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

A jury needed only one hour and 15 minutes to reject that argument and Hanson faced a mandatory life prison sentence because of his prior criminal record.

That sentence was imposed in June 2006, but the appellate court ordered a new sentencing hearing because an investigation of Hanson's background was not done prior to the sentencing.

Although he made no statement at his original sentencing hearing, Hanson cried at times Thursday as he apologized to the victim and her family.

His remorse was tempered with a plea to Foreman to somehow change the sentence that the state legislature has decided is the only appropriate one for people with Hanson's record.

"I still think it is unfair and unconstitutional that my sentence is more severe than those of 90 percent of people sentenced for first-degree murder," he said. "I am living the rest of my life in prison while (the victim) is still alive."

Prosecutor Eric Kalata called Hanson's complaint about his sentence "outrageous" and said the life term was appropriate.

"We build prisons for people like Christopher Hanson," he said. "No woman in Lake County is safe if he is on the streets."

Defense attorney Ian Kasper asked Foreman to consider Hanson's abuse as a child and the fact that he never completed counseling for any of his mental illnesses.

The victim was not in the courtroom Thursday, but her father read her victim impact statement from the original hearing.

"I have faith that God will forgive him and that, someday, I will, too," she wrote. "I have said a prayer that Christopher Hanson will find his peace in heaven."