Woman testifies daughter told her of assaults
A mother told a Cook County judge Tuesday that her daughter was “trembling and crying” the evening of Sept. 1, 2011, while telling her an Elgin man had sexually abused her multiple times, starting when she was 12.
The testimony came on the second day of a trial for Randall Behning, 52, who has been charged with criminal sexual assault, predatory criminal sexual assault, child pornography and indecent solicitation of an adult.
The mother testified that she called police to her home that night after talking to her daughter, who said the abuse began in 2007. Behning was arrested in October 2011.
Also testifying for the prosecution was Behning’s neighbor, Kyle Peters. Peters said Behning invited him to his home in 2008 to have sex with the then-13-year-old girl.
Peters, 26, said he came over after Behning told him the girl wanted to have sex with him. But upon his arrival, he said he noticed she was scared and he left.
“(She looked) like a ghost, like she was almost dead inside,” Peters testified.
But while Behning’s accuser said Monday that Behning told her to touch both him and Peters, Peters denied during cross examination that either men had touched her that day.
Peters said Behning told him a couple of days later that he’d sex with the girl 10 to 12 times. That same day, Peters said he viewed photos on Behning’s home computer of the girl wearing lingerie, including pictures of her with multiple men.
But no nude photos of the girl were recovered from Behning’s home computer, according to Elgin police Detective Carla Carter. Carter said certain photos were found on Behning’s computer, but she did not elaborate on the details of those pictures.
The trial will continue Wednesday morning, when Behning’s defense attorneys will present their case. If found guilty, Behning faces at least 28 years in prison.