Woodstock man found guilty again of sexual assault of 4-year-old child

After about four hours of deliberations Thursday, a McHenry County jury found a Woodstock man guilty of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl in 2019.

Nathan Rigg, 37, was found guilty by a jury on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, Class X felonies, which carry prison terms of up to 60 years for each count.

McHenry County Judge Michael Coppedge subsequently revoked Rigg’s bond and he was taken into custody. A sentencing hearing was set for Oct. 27.

This is the second time Rigg has been convicted on these charges.

In February, he was found guilty following a bench trial before Coppedge. However, in a rare move, Coppedge overturned the convictions after a hearing finding Rigg’s then-trial attorney had made errors.

In closing statements Thursday, prosecutors told jurors that Rigg sexually assaulted the child between September and December 2019.

However, Rigg’s defense attorney, Patrick M. Campanelli, said there was no physical evidence of a sexual assault besides what a female relative said she saw on Dec. 22, 2019. Campanelli also cited contradicting witness testimony and raised issues with the child not being able to provide more specific details, such as who was present or where she was when the alleged assault occurred.

He took issue with testimony this week from an expert in sexual assault who examined the child and said while she saw no injuries, that didn’t mean no assault occurred.

He told jurors the child was coached by a wealthy relative who “always gets what she wants” and what she wants is for the child to live with her. He also said the female relative lied when she said she saw injuries on the child and noting no one else said they saw any injuries.

He questioned why when the child made the allegations Dec. 22, 2019, a warrant was not issued for Rigg’s arrest until March.

“This week, what you heard was a seminar on how to convict an innocent man,” Campanelli told jurors. “It never happened.”

However, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashur Youash said when the child, now 6, testified this week, perhaps she could not recall specific details surrounding the assault, but she was credible when she pointed at Rigg from the witness stand and said he was the person who sexually assaulted her.

Also credible, Youash said, was a nurse who said the child told her of the alleged assault on Dec. 22, 2019, when the female relative took her to the hospital because she was vomiting. Youash said her preschool teacher was also credible when she testified that the child told her in February 2020 that Rigg was mean to her and touching her private parts.

The teacher also testified that the typically happy, outgoing child “took a 180″ during the timeframe of the alleged assault.

“The defense wants you to believe that (the female relative) would spin a horrific story and a nurse and a teacher would go along with it,” Youash told jurors. “(The child) told you what was done to her, and she pointed to who did it to her. ... You’ve heard everything to support the crime.”

Campanelli said if jurors believed the child was coached on any part of her testimony, “it’s a not guilty.”

“Children are like sponges,” Campanelli said. “They absorb everything. The good, the bad. They don’t know what a great lie is. They don’t know what a small lie is. They don’t know.”

In his rebuttal argument, Assistant State’s Attorney Tyler Mikan said if the child had been coached over the last two years, since the assault occurred, then her story on the stand this week would likely have been perfect.

She was scared and had to relive what happened in a room full of strangers, so she “won’t remember every single detail,” he said.

“But, the most important detail she remembered,” Mikan said, pointing to Rigg, saying he was the person who assaulted her. “You need one credible witness You got her, (the child).”