Sex abuse case comes to a close

Taylor Marcus spoke of how she’s been in her own personal prison since William Snow sexually abused her in 2014.

Marcus, 21, stood before Will County Judge Dan Kennedy on Tuesday and told how the 55-year-old Snow’s abuse five years ago caused her to lose “all love for life.”

In tears, Marcus said the attack damaged her relationships with her family and friends, as well as her education and mental health. She said she’s been “afraid of being stabbed in the back.”

“I’ve been in my own personal prison since he sexually assaulted me,” she said.

In October, a jury convicted Snow of the aggravated criminal sexual abuse and battery of Marcus. It was the second time Snow was convicted of sexually abusing her. His previous conviction was vacated after Kennedy granted Snow a new trial based on ineffective representation from his previous attorney, Paul Napolski.

After Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Kennedy sentenced Snow to 180 days in jail, and 36 months of sex offender probation, and ordered him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Snow was taken to the Will County jail after the hearing.

Nobody spoke in Snow’s defense at the sentencing hearing. His attorney, Omer Jaleel, filed mitigation letters supporting Snow. Jaleel asked Kennedy to give Snow probation because he has largely led a law-abiding life and a psycho-sexual evaluation reportedly showed he was below average risk as a sex offender.

“It shows my client would be the ideal candidate for probation,” Jaleel said.

Marcus’ mother, Evelyn Marcus, said at the hearing that her daughter, whom she called her “miracle child,” has been a source of strength and love, but that was taken away by Snow.

Evelyn Marcus said her daughter considered Snow and his family as her own family, and she thought of Snow as an uncle to her. Their families spent holidays together.

Evelyn Marcus said she was upset by the Snow family engaging in lies and manipulations throughout the trial, and claimed Snow tried to offer her and her daughter VIP tickets to an Aerosmith concert.

“We’ve been through hell and back because of this man,” Evelyn Marcus said.

She called Snow a “narcissist” and said he should have to serve the same punishment that her daughter was dealt when he attacked her.

Evelyn Marcus said her daughter became suicidal in the aftermath of Snow’s sexual assault, losing sleep and almost losing her job because she had to show up for court proceedings.

Evelyn Marcus also said her daughter has been working to put her life back together and has been attending school to one day become a doctor.

While Snow has been convicted and sentenced for sexually abusing Taylor Marcus, he still faces a pending lawsuit brought by her. The civil lawsuit seeks damages in connection with the 2014 sexual assault.

Taylor Marcus’ civil attorney, John Schrock, has accused Napolski of deliberately dragging the case out over years and committing legal malpractice to get Snow a new trial.

“I think it was completely karmic he was found guilty in the second trial,” Schrock has said.

Napolski has declined to comment.

Kennedy had found Snow guilty of the same charges on Sept. 7, 2016, but Snow was able to get a new trial after he argued that Napolski provided ineffective representation. Kennedy granted the motion for a new trial.