Trial begins for man accused of Schaumburg rape

Prosecutor Mike Andre minced no words as the rape trial of ward of the state Ronald Patterson began Tuesday in a Rolling Meadows Third Municipal District courtroom.

"Every woman's nightmare. That's what this case is all about. Every woman's worst nightmare," said the Cook County assistant state's attorney in his opening statement.

Prosecutors say one woman's nightmare began 13 months ago, when Patterson, then 15, raped her in a van located in an industrial park parking lot in the 1400 block of Wright Blvd., Schaumburg.

She was alone, said Andre, with someone bigger and stronger, "who was determined and undeterred to take what doesn't belong to him."

However, Cook County Assistant Public Defender Larry Kugler refuted those claims in his opening statement, describing the incident as a "brief sexual encounter that ended quickly."

Kugler told the jury of eight women and six men, including alternates, that no DNA links his client to the alleged sexual assault. He also said Patterson - a ward of the state and three-year resident of Streamwood's John Costigan Center - intends to testify that the complaining witness initiated sexual contact and later told him, "I won't tell anybody if you don't tell anybody."

Testimony from the complaining witness, a college graduate currently studying for her master's degree, took up most of the trial's first day. The woman testified that she had been working as a mental health technician at the JCC, a residential treatment center for children and adolescents with behavioral problems, for about 18 months when she was assigned to take Patterson for a fast-food dinner and a movie on Friday, Dec. 12, 2008. The outing was a reward for good behavior, the woman said.

Two days later, she was assigned to meet Patterson and his relatives at the Hinsdale Oasis following a one-day home visit, and transport him back to the center in the center's minivan, she said.

Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Piper asked the petite witness if Patterson looks the same today as he did then.

"He was twice the size that he is now," she replied, describing him as weighing between 250 and 300 pounds at the time.

As they drove along the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Patterson grabbed her right arm and ordered her to exit, said the complaining witness. Initially, she thought he wanted to run away, but soon realized that wasn't his intent, she said.

"I was scared for my life," she said tearfully.

Patterson ordered her into the back seat, she refused, she said. She reached for her phone, he slapped it away, she said. She tried to escape and got out of the van, he grabbed her, pushed her against it, she said. She tried to head-butt him, he responded by choking her and shoving her into the middle seat, she said.

Scared and sobbing, she reached for the door as "he said, 'Stop, don't make me hurt you," she said.

He grabbed her by her hair and choked her several times before forcing her to perform sex acts, she said. He also kissed her face and neck, she said.

Asked why she didn't scratch him or knee him in the groin, the witness replied that when she fought back, he retaliated. She tried to dissuade him by telling him she had a sexually transmitted disease but he was undeterred, she said.

Afterward, "He told me he was sorry and he didn't want to get in trouble," she said.

Upon returning to the Costigan Center, she returned Patterson to his unit and informed her superiors who notified police, she said.

Norman Winkfield testified that the woman was red-faced, crying and shaking when she told him that Patterson had raped her. Schaumburg police officer Paula Casey described the woman the same way, saying she was "very shaken up."

During cross examination, the witness stated Patterson never showed her a gun or knife, and did not bind her hands or feet. Assistant Public Defender Calvin Aguilar asked the woman, who said she runs four to six miles a day and works out regularly, why she didn't try to outrun a 250-pound man when they were outside the van.

"It occurred to me to run, but he was right there," she said. "Any quick move and he could have grabbed hold of me."

An emergency room physician at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates testified that his examination of the complaining witness revealed bruises and redness to her wrist, elbow and hip. The exam revealed evidence "consistent with sexual intercourse," said Dr. Ron Shenfeld, who added that the "absence of trauma" did not necessarily mean that an assault did not occur.