Judge denies pretrial release for teen charged in graduation party sexual assault

A 19-year-old Prospect Heights man accused of sexually assaulting a former classmate during a graduation party in June should stay behind bars in the DuPage County jail while awaiting trial, a judge ruled Monday.

Kevin Niemiec is the only one of three recent St. Viator High School graduates charged in the case to remain in custody.

In rejecting a request that he be allowed free, DuPage County Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh said Monday that electronic communications obtained by investigators indicate Niemiec could be a threat to the accuser or public if released.

Niemiec and co-defendants Jon Clary II of Bartlett and Zachary Mascolo of Arlington Heights, are charged with criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, kidnapping and unlawful restraint. They have all pleaded not guilty.

Clary and Mascolo, both 19, previously were granted pretrial release.

Prosecutors allege the trio assaulted an 18-year-old former classmate inside a minivan parked near a Roselle home that was hosting a graduation party on June 14.

The woman told police she was able to escape only after friends found her inside the van. She told her friends and parents what happened, and she was taken to a hospital a few hours later for treatment.

Police collected DNA evidence from both the woman’s clothes and the minivan, according to court papers.