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Friday, May 7, 2004 10:39 AM CDT
Kilday sexual assault trial starts Monday
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- It won't be known if photographs reportedly found in Edward H. Kilday's desk at Mattoon High School are relevant in the sexual assault case against him until it's determined what the alleged victim has to say about them.
That was Circuit Judge Gary Jacobs' decision Thursday during the final hearing for the former MHS assistant principal before his trial, which is set to begin Monday.
Kilday, 48, now living in LaSalle, will be tried on a charge of criminal sexual assault that accuses him of performing oral sex on a 16-year-old male student at the school in November 2001.
Kilday pleaded guilty in December to charges of child pornography and public indecency alleging he had the pornography on his school computer and fondled himself through his clothing, also at the school, while students were present.
Last week, Kilday opted against a jury trial in favor of having Jacobs decide the case, something defense attorneys sometimes recommend when they think there's a technical matter that a jury would have trouble deciding.
The judge and the attorneys involved have said during earlier hearings that the case comes down to whether the alleged victim is believable, and the photographs mentioned during Thursday's hearing apparently relate to that issue.
Details of the pictures weren't revealed, but defense attorney Ron Tulin asked Jacobs to bar them from the trial, saying he felt they weren't relevant.
In response, Assistant State's Attorney Duane Deters said Kilday is claiming the photographs weren't his though they were found in his desk next to a note with an "incriminating statement," both of which the alleged victim took and kept for two years before turning over to authorities. The note has been mentioned at earlier hearings but its contents haven't been revealed publicly.
Deters also said he has evidence that will show that the photographers were printed from Kilday's computer.
But Jacobs said he could see the relevance of the photographs only if they're part of something that "builds up" to the alleged assault, and that probably couldn't be known until the alleged victim testifies.
The attorneys told Jacobs they expect the trial to take three days. Kilday is free on bond and would face a mandatory prison sentence of four to 15 years if convicted of the sexual assault charge.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the trial regardless of the verdict because of Kilday's earlier guilty plea to the other charges. Child pornography is a felony that can result in a prison term of two to five years or up to 2-½ years of probation, while public indecency is a misdemeanor that carries a year in jail as its maximum sentence.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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