Testimony got underway this morning in the sexual assault trial of 31 year old Jeffrey Isham of Mt. Carmel. Isham was arrested in September of 2019 and charged with a Class X felony of predatory criminal sexual assault with the victim being under the age of 13.
During opening arguments today, state’s attorney Kelli Storckman laid out the details of the alleged crime on September 8th of 2019 in which Isham allegedly dragged a female family member by the hair into a bathroom and assaulted her. The alleged assault ended when Isham’s wife walked into the bathroom.
Defense attorney James Lane asked jurors to closely consider the testimony and evidence saying the state’s story has plenty of “potholes”.
Witnesses today included the alleged victim, her father, 911 dispatcher Dru Faulkner, sheriff’s deputy D. Ray Etzkorn, former deputy Keagan Bogard, and Ashleigh Turner, formerly of the Guardian Center who conducted an interview with the alleged victim the day after the alleged incident, a video which was shown to jurors.
Also testifying today were registered nurse Stephanie Sessions who conducted a sexual assault kit on the alleged victim at Carle Richland Memorial Hospital; police chief Mike McWilliams and sheriff Derek Morgan who testified as to the chain of custody of the samples taken from the young girl and Isham that were sent to the State Police Crime Lab for analysis.
Storckman indicated she had five more witnesses to call when the trial resumes on Wednesday.
The Class X felony carries a prison term of 6 to 30 years and is not a probationable offense.
