Victim testifies in Aurora rape case

Testimony of the 26-year-old mother of two who DuPage County prosecutors say was kidnapped and raped at gunpoint by an Aurora man just before Christmas last year resumes today.

The woman's testimony is expected to wrap up this morning, said Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Ann Celine O'Hallaren. She also plans to call to the stand Aurora detectives who investigated the crime and a nurse who treated the woman.

During opening arguments Wednesday, defense lawyers told the jury that 19-year-old Cedric T. Flax intends to take the stand in his own defense. That testimony is expected sometime next week. Flax's attorney claims the sex was consenual.

Flax is accused of sneaking into the backseat of the woman's unlocked car at a gas station in Aurora after she had gone inside the convenience store. Authorities said Flax grabbed the woman by the neck when she returned, put a gun to her head and ordered her to drive to his east-side apartment complex where he raped her. She was then forced to drive back to the city's west side where she was held against her will until Flax eventually released her in the early morning hours of Dec. 10, 2008.

Colleagues of the woman testified Wedensday about the woman's absence from work the day she was kidnapped. Surveillance video showing Flax entering the woman's car at the gas station also was introduced during the first day of the trial.

For more details, check back later at dailyherald.com or read Friday's Daily Herald.