Rapist gets 36 years for Streamwood attack

"Every woman's worst nightmare."

Cook County prosecutor Mike Andre used those words to describe Ronald Patterson during Patterson's trial earlier this year, and he reiterated them Thursday during a sentencing hearing in Rolling Meadows as he asked the court impose a lengthy sentence on the 16-year-old convicted rapist.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Ellen Beth Mandeltort obliged. She imposed a 36-year sentence on Patterson, a ward of the state, convicted in January of three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a mental health technician at Streamwood's John Costigan Center.

Patterson resided at the center, a residential facility for children and adolescents with emotional, mental and behavioral problems, from December 2006 to his arrest in December 2008.

He faced a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 90 years in prison. Mandeltort sentenced him to 12 years on each count. The sentences must be served consecutively and Patterson must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Cook County Assistant Public Defender Larry Kugler acknowledged the court had no recourse but to impose a severe sentence.

"The question is how much and to what extent," he said.

Kugler introduced as mitigation, a letter requesting leniency from a Department of Children and Family Services caseworker who indicated the teen has the mental capacity of a child and requires clinical services. Kugler also told the court that Patterson was born with cocaine in his system to a drug-addicted mother who later abandoned him and his seven siblings. A ward of the state for four years, Patterson has an IQ of 77, reads at a 3rd grade level and has been on medication since age four, Kugler said. Additionally, "his ability to think rationally is compromised under extreme emotion," Kugler said.

Lastly, Kugler referenced the recent Supreme Court decision rejecting life sentences for juveniles convicted of crimes other than murder as unconstitutional. The Court recognized juveniles have lesser culpability attributed to a lack of maturity and an undeveloped sense of responsibility, Kugler said. The Court also indicated that juveniles have greater capacity for change which makes rehabilitation more likely, Kugler said.

"If Ronald Patterson, who has all these psychological problems, is to have any hope of rehabilitation, the number or years to which he is sentenced is important," Kugler said. "He has to see a reason to change. If that (release) date is so far off, the danger of him giving up is great."

Andre rejected the argument for leniency based on Patterson's age or mental capacity.

"He deserves every one of the many, many years this court will sentence him to," Andre said.

He recounted aggravation testimony from supervisor at the Costigan Center who told the court that Patterson was cited 81 times for aggressive behavior which included verbal and physical assaults on staff members. Andre also recalled testimony from a court liaison officer at the juvenile detention facility where Patterson has resided since his arrest who referenced incidents in which Patterson kicked, punched and spit at staff members and twice shattered the glass door to his room. That behavior suggested something about Patterson's character, which he contrased with that of the 26-year-old victim.

"We know something about her and her character by the grace and dignity she displayed when she faced the man who brutally raped her," Andre said.