Man makes ‘cold plea’ in sexual assault of disabled Marklund resident

Isaiah S. Fields, 23, of Chicago, agreed to a cold plea to one count of felony aggravated criminal sexual assault causing bodily harm on Tuesday before Kane County Judge John Barsanti.

Barsanti said a cold plea means Fields pleaded guilty without knowing what the sentence will be. He said a guilty plea to a Class X felony has a penalty of six to 30 years in prison.

A sentencing hearing is set for March 14.

Fields was charged with sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled woman at Marklund Hyde Center near Geneva, resulting in her having a baby.

“She depended on others for care,” Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Rodgers said of the victim. “Fields was assigned to care for her.”

The woman delivered the baby April 10, 2024.

The sexual assault occurred sometime between Aug. 1 and Sept. 5, 2023, with the child’s conception estimated to have occurred on Aug. 22, 2023, Rodgers said.

A DNA test showed the Fields was the father of the child, Rodgers said.

“(The victim) was unable to understand or give knowing consent,” Rodgers said.

The Hyde Center Campus provides residential and other services to 96 adults with profound developmental disabilities.

About 25 Marklund employees filled the benches in Barsanti’s courtroom, several of them crying as Rodgers spoke.

Fields stood between a deputy and his attorney, Justin Sather. Fields wore green and white horizontally-striped jail clothes, white socks and orange sandals. He wore a small white hat with a matching hair tie for his dreadlocks.

Fields will not be prosecuted on the other felony counts of sexual assault.

Barsanti addressed Fields directly, asking “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

“No,” Fields answered in a barely audible whisper.

“Is there anything you think I should know?” Barsanti asked.

“No,” Fields answered again, speaking very softly.

In a separate case, with a different victim, Fields pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse from an incident that occurred on Sept. 27, 2023.

“We have a negotiated settlement,” Rodgers said.

Fields fondled the breast of a woman who was unable to give consent as she was asleep on a couch, Rodgers said.

He pleaded guilty to a Class 4 felony, agreeing to serve one year in prison with day-for-day credit, according to the agreement.

The other charges in that case will not be prosecuted, Rodgers said.