Volunteer on trial for abusing developmentally disabled teen

A former volunteer of the year for an agency that provides recreational opportunities to people with disabilities went on trial in a McHenry County courtroom Tuesday on accusations he molested a developmentally disabled teenager in his care.

Israel Ayala, 29, of Woodstock, faces a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse alleging he inappropriately touched a 15-year-old girl as they sat next to one another in a Woodstock movie theater July 15, 2006, as part of a teen event sponsored by the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association.

"I told him to stop and he wouldn't," the girl, now 18, testified before a jury Tuesday. "Every time he would reach over for popcorn, he would pull up my skirt again."

The girl testified that Ayala touched her in a similar way two weeks earlier while on a NISRA outing to a swimming pool, though he is not charged in connection with those accusations.

Questioned by Ayala's defense, however, the girl admitted that on both occasions she was angry with the defendant for things he had done before the alleged touching. She also testified that she has been suspended from school at least seven times and takes medication to control aggressive behavior.

In his opening statement to jurors, Ayala attorney Thomas Loizzo said his client's accuser is "an admitted liar" who never complained of Ayala's actions to the three other NISRA chaperones sitting nearby in the movie theater.

"(Ayala) will testify that there was no inappropriate contact whatsoever at the show or at the pool," Loizzo said.

Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein told the jury Ayala admitted touching the girl to police when they investigated the claim.

"This was someone she trusted," Eisenstein said. "It was someone she considered a friend."