The second day of testimony concluded Thursday in Wabash County Circuit Court in the trial of 28-year-old Hunter Ingram of Mt. Carmel, who is charged with one count of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Before jurors entered the courtroom, Judge William C. Hudson questioned the mother of one of Wednesday's witnesses. Hudson said the court had received information alleging the woman, who attended Wednesday's proceedings as a spectator, discussed testimony with other witnesses. Under oath, she denied speaking with any witnesses or potential witnesses about the case. Judge Hudson accepted her testimony and allowed the trial to proceed.
The State's first witness was another person who was at Ingram's West 6th Street shop the night of the alleged incident. He testified he heard the alleged victim say she did not want to spend the night there because she did not feel safe, but she could not find anyone who had not been drinking to give her a ride home.
The alleged victim was then recalled to the witness stand, where she identified Snapchat photos and videos that she said showed she had never spent the night at Ingram's shop before the night of the alleged incident.
Mt. Carmel Police Sergeant Kyle Adams testified he took the initial complaint from the alleged victim's father. Adams said officers went to the West 6th Street property and spent several hours attempting to get Ingram to answer the door. He testified Ingram only came to the door after officers were preparing to forcibly enter the building to execute a search warrant.
Detective Eddie Johnson also testified, and jurors watched a recorded interview he conducted with Ingram.
During the approximately 14-minute interview, Ingram told Johnson, "You've got it all wrong. I had sex that night, but not with (the alleged victim)." Ingram never disputed that the alleged victim was 16 years old. At another point in the interview, he stated, "She could've raped me. I might've gotten raped." Ingram also admitted he had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana that night while taking antidepressant medication.
Thursday afternoon, prosecutors called Jennifer Mulrain, a forensic scientist from the Illinois State Police Metro East Forensic Science Laboratory. Mulrain testified about DNA testing performed on two condoms recovered from the scene. She told jurors one condom contained DNA from Ingram and another female. The second condom contained DNA from Ingram, the alleged victim, and the same female whose DNA was found on the first condom.
Before court adjourned shortly before 3:30 p.m., State's Attorney Kelli Storckman played recorded video and telephone calls Ingram made while housed in the Wabash County Jail. In one of the recordings, Ingram referred to a fellow inmate and stated the inmate had done the same thing that "I did."
The trial is scheduled to resume at 10:30 Friday morning in Wabash County Circuit Court.
As with all criminal cases, Ingram is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
