Waukegan man accused of locking daughter in basement to again undergo mental health treatment
Randy Swopes - the Waukegan man accused of locking his daughter in a basement because he believed she was demonically possessed - will be sent to a mental health facility in Elgin after being ruled unfit to stand trial last month.
During a hearing Tuesday morning, defense attorney Eric Rinehart asked Lake County Judge Christopher Stride to hold off on sending his client to the Health and Human Services facility in Elgin because he had yet to file a motion for the judge to reconsider his ruling last month. Stride declined Rinehart's request.
Rinehart said he will file the motion to reconsider soon.
Swopes appeared in court and stood silently during the hearing, occasionally twisting his body so he could read notes he was holding in his shackled hands.
In November, Stride ruled Swopes unfit to stand trial, a ruling based mostly on a report filed by a court-appointed psychologist who met with Swopes multiple times.
The 49-year-old was first deemed unfit to stand trial last December. Those proceedings included testimony from a psychologist who said Swopes believed current and former U.S. presidents and other politicians sneaked into his house at night and sexually assaulted him and his family as they slept.
Swopes and his wife, Katherine Swopes, were charged July 17, 2018, with child endangerment and unlawful restraint for locking their daughter, then 10, in the basement of their single-family house on the 200 block of Liberty Street, authorities said. The girl was forced to live in the basement because the parents believed she was "possessed by a demon," police said.
Katherine Swopes pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced to 30 months of probation and 12 months of periodic imprisonment as part of a plea deal approved by Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti.
Stride revoked Randy Swopes' bail in November when he ruled him unfit to stand trial.
Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Kleinhubert said he had alerted the Lake County jail to transport Swopes to Elgin as soon as a bed is available.
Swopes is due back before Stride Jan. 7 for a progress report.