Out-of-state man found guilty of sexually abusing child in McHenry County

An Oregon man was found guilty in McHenry County court of seven counts of sexual abuse of a child younger than 13.

James Schlight, 69, of Ashland, Oregon, was charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child younger than 13. According to each count, he “touched” the girl’s “breasts and buttocks under her clothing with his hands,” according to the McHenry County criminal complaint.

Schlight’s bench trial started last month, and Judge Mark Gerhardt filed his guilty verdict this week. Schlight was found not guilty of one count of aggravated sexual abuse that was alleged to have happened on or about Nov. 11, 2016, according to court documents.

Schlight’s sentencing is scheduled for March 14, according to court records.

The alleged abuse occurred over four years, from 2014 to 2018, with the charges filed in 2021 after the girl told her parents about Schlight’s actions in a letter, McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Neubauer said.

Schlight was a family friend who visited the girl’s Port Barrington home at least twice a year. He would stay in the family’s guest bedroom in the basement, where he would repeatedly invite the child to his bed and give her “back rubs,” Neubauer said. Prosecutors said Schlight would touch the victim for “sexual gratification.”

The alleged sexual abuse would “continue for years,” every time Schlight would visit, until the victim started to question what was happening to her at the age of about 11 or 12, Neubauer said.

In his closing arguments earlier this month, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashur Youash described Schlight as a “grandfather figure” to the girl. Youash cited a phone call that Schlight had with the girl’s father about the letter the girl wrote; the prosecutor said Schlight said in the call, “I crossed a boundary” and “I’m so sorry.”

“She has zero motive to make this up,” Youash said. “She was afraid to change the family dynamic.”

Catherine O’Daniel, the attorney representing Schlight, said during the trial that there was no evidence of sexual gratification. She added that there is “no evidence of DNA, arousal [or] grooming tactics.”

O’Daniel said in closing arguments that the victim’s “inconsistent accounts” of the alleged abuse left enough reasonable doubt. In all counts, the victim said the abuse happened in a basement bedroom, while Schlight would sometimes sleep on an air mattress on the main floor, O’Daniel said.

Schlight felt “utter shock, utter bewilderment” when he heard about the allegations and was “blindsided and heartbroken,” O’Daniel said. Schlight apologized in the phone call to express sympathy with the dad, the defense attorney said.

Neubauer noted that Schlight never said during the phone call with the father that the alleged abuses didn’t happen. The prosecutor also pointed out that the victim’s parents had never seen Schlight give the victim back rubs.

“This is not conduct he does in front of others,” Neubauer said.

A person with Schlight’s name and address is listed as the founder of the Oregon-based software company Inspiredware.