Trial begins for Carol Stream man accused of molesting teen girls
A registered sex offender from Carol Stream is standing trial this week on charges he molested two teenage girls, including one who was at his home for a sleepover.
During Wednesday's opening statements, Assistant State's Attorney Ann Celine O'Hallaren said she intends to prove Joel Augustine, 36, routinely abused a now 16-year-old girl from the fall of 2009 until Oct. 11, 2012, in residences in Warrenville and Carol Stream.
Augustine, most recently of the 500 block of East Thornhill Drive, faces three counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He has been held on $1 million bail since his Oct. 15, 2012, arrest.
Augustine also is accused of having nude photos of the girl on his cellphone and molesting the girl's 14-year-old best friend three times during an August 2012 sleepover.
O'Hallaren said Augustine was able to "buy" the girl's silence by taking her shopping but also punished her when she resisted his advances.
"(The girl) was subject to a pattern of grooming and control to satisfy the sexual perversions of the defendant," she said.
The "secret" Augustine is alleged to have made the victim keep was exposed in October 2012 when the younger girl told her parents Augustine had inappropriately touched her.
Augustine's attorney, Kelly Bennett, said he will present a case that proves Augustine is the victim of vicious lies made up by the girl.
"This case is based on the subjective, self-serving statements made by an angry little girl who was mad at Joel Augustine," Bennett told jurors. "These are false accusations made by an angry girl."
Augustine previously served time in prison and became a registered sex offender after he was convicted of attacking his then-17-year-old girlfriend behind her workplace in 1999, when he was 21, according to court records.
He also has prior arrests on charges of marijuana possession, drunken driving, domestic battery and failure to register as a sex offender, among other offenses.
Augustine's trial resumes Thursday and is expected to last through the week.