A former Mt. Carmel man has been found guilty in Wabash County Circuit Court of sexually abusing a child more than two decades ago.
After approximately 90 minutes of deliberations, a jury returned guilty verdicts at 6:10 Wednesday evening against 45-year-old Joseph Sellers of Janesville, Wisconsin. Jurors found Sellers guilty on two Class 2 felony counts of criminal sexual abuse.
The convictions stem from incidents that occurred between 1997 and 2000 when the victim was under the age of 9 and Sellers was 17 and 18 years old.
Sentencing has been scheduled for August 11th at 10:45 a.m. Sellers faces a prison term of three to seven years on each conviction.
Sellers took the stand in his own defense Wednesday afternoon, denying the allegations. He told jurors it was "impossible to remember something that never happened." Sellers testified he was close to the victim's father, whom he described as a spiritual mentor, and became emotional while stating he would never do anything to harm him or his family.
Sellers said he attended church with the victim's family in Mount Carmel and served as a youth minister intern. He testified he was an influential member of the church before leaving to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville following a stint in the Illinois Army National Guard.
During closing arguments, Wabash County State's Attorney Kelli Storckman argued the case was more than a "he said, she said" situation because testimony indicated Sellers admitted to touching the victim. Storckman questioned what motive the victim would have to pursue charges after all these years and said jurors would have to believe multiple witnesses conspired against Sellers in order to find him not guilty.
Defense attorney Monroe McWard argued that while child sexual abuse is a serious crime, convicting an innocent person would be even worse. McWard pointed to what he described as inconsistencies in the victim's testimony and statements to police and criticized investigators for failing to pursue information he said could have cleared Sellers.
Following the verdict, McWard said the defense was disappointed with the outcome.
"I think the evidence was against the verdict and in favor of him being acquitted," McWard told WSJD. "We certainly are looking forward to doing an appeal for him."
McWard acknowledged the challenges of defending a case involving allegations that are nearly 30 years old and were not reported until years later.
"Very difficult. Yeah. Very, very difficult," he said.
Asked whether there was one piece of evidence that may have swayed the jury, McWard said it was impossible to know.
"It is difficult to imagine with the jury looking at a case over 20 years. It's hard to identify exactly which part the jurors held their hat on," he said.
Storckman declined to comment on the verdict when contacted by WSJD, citing the fact that a second criminal case remains pending against Sellers.
Sellers also faces separate charges in another Wabash County case. He is charged with two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, Class X felonies that carry substantially greater penalties upon conviction.
Joseph Sellers is led from the Wabash County Courthouse to the Wabash County Jail following his Wednesday night conviction. Judge William C. Hudson revoked Sellers’ $12,500 cash bond and ordered taken to jail pending his August sentencing.
