Wife of man banned from libraries for touching women's feet: He has drinking problem
The wife of an Aurora man who has been banned from several suburban libraries for "caressing" the bare feet of multiple women said Friday her husband only gets in trouble with the law when he's drinking.
Omar Carlton, 45, of the 1000 block of Fifth Avenue, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of aggravated battery in a public place after authorities said he used his bare feet to touch women's feet last year at the Warrenville Public Library and in 2015 at libraries at North Central College in Naperville and Benedictine University in Lisle.
He now faces between two and five years in prison.
Viola Carlton, Omar's wife of six years, said she works nights and only learned of her husband's arrests when they appeared in the newspaper. But she's standing by him.
"He has a drinking problem," she told Judge Daniel Guerin Friday during the second day of Carlton's sentencing hearing. "When he puts his mind to it, he'll get the help he needs."
Naperville police officer James Koukel testified Friday that he arrested Carlton on Oct. 8, 2015, after four women accused Carlton of making "intentional or prolonged contact" with their bare feet inside North Central College's Oesterle Library. When he was arrested, Carlton was wearing flip-flops and had socks in a jacket pocket, Koukel said.
He said the women called his behavior "odd and disturbing." Another told Koukel she was "freaked out."
Two Wheaton police detectives also testified last week, during the first day of the sentencing hearing, that they investigated Carlton for similar assaults at the Wheaton College library in September 1999 and March 2008.
Carlton's sentencing hearing was continued until 1:30 p.m. Monday when his mother and brother are expected to testify and Guerin is expected to issue his sentencing ruling.
Carlton has been held on $200,000 bail since his April arrest.