Shocked and concerned faces filled the first floor of the Kendall County courthouse Tuesday afternoon as the wails of a guilty woman filled the courthouse.
After a day-and-a-half of testimony and an hour of deliberation, 31-year-old Shareda Rawls was found guilty by a jury of her peers of the second-degree felony of sexually assaulting a child. Rawls was accused, and ultimately found guilty, of having sex with a 16-year-old Roy Maas Youth Alternative Center resident when she was a 29-year-old case aid at the facility in 2020.
In an unusual occurrence, 451st District Judge Kirsten Cohoon allowed Rawls – a mother of three children – to avoid jail detention overnight while she awaits a jury sentence Wednesday morning.
“Ms. Rawls, I’ve heard from the state and your counsel, and both agree that you do not pose a flight risk,” Cohoon said. “You have been to this court every time I have ordered you to do so. I will tell you, Ms. Rawls, that I do not normally let a defendant that has been found guilty by a jury of your peers of a second-degree felony leave the courthouse until your punishment phase has been completed. I will make an exception at the recommendation of not only the state but your counsel, but I will caution that if you are not here at 8 a.m. tomorrow – 8 a.m. – that if we make the jurors wait while we come and find you, that will not bode well for you.”
Rawls has been out of jail on a $125,000 bond, which remains in place, and will face a punishment range from probation to two to 20 years in state prison for the felony charge.
To read more about the charges against Rawls and the evidence that led to her conviction and the punishment assessed by a jury Wednesday, see The Star’s weekend edition.
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