McHenry man stands trial on sex-crime allegation involving 8-year-old girl

WOODSTOCK – A bench trial began Wednesday for a McHenry man accused of a sex crime involving an 8-year-old girl.

Godfrey Siwale, 40, has denied all allegations against him, including one count of predatory criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Siwale’s verdict will be decided by McHenry County Judge Michael Feetterer rather than a jury.

Prosecutors are arguing that Siwale inappropriately touched a young girl on one occasion when she was staying at a family friend’s home for a few days last spring.

“Luckily for her, she didn’t have occasions to see him again,” Assistant State’s Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein said in opening arguments.

The girl, now 9, took the stand and told the judge that she was watching YouTube videos Siwale posted of himself while sitting on his bed when he put her on his lap.

Siwale was an in-home caregiver for family friend Sherry Christy’s father, who had dementia and needed 24-hour care. Christy testified that Siwale was paid $400 a week in addition to living in their home. He was hired in November 2015 after Christy posted an ad on a website, she said.

The girl said he touched her inappropriately. She said she immediately pushed his hand away, told him to stop and left the room. The girl said she did not initially disclose what happened because she didn’t want anyone to be mad at her, and she still wanted to be able to go there. She eventually told her mother in August after she returned home from a summer vacation with her father.

Her mother alerted police, and the two then went to the Child Advocacy Center, where the girl told officials what she believed had happened.

When asked by prosecutors how she felt after telling someone about what Siwale did she said, “I feel better.”

Siwale’s defense lawyer, Special Public Defender Matthew Jura, asked the young girl whether she and Siwale had spent time together before. She said he would sometimes play “airplane” with her – where he would lift her up and fly her around. She said she was OK with that previous contact between the two of them.

Christy said she would watch the young girl from time to time, and she occasionally would stay overnight. She said she was almost always with the girl but admitted she didn’t have eyes on her every second of the day.

She said the floor plan of her house is such that Siwale and her father occupy a living room area on the first floor that is mostly open to the rest of the house. Christy testified that she was cooking dinner about 20 feet away from Siwale and the girl the day of the alleged incident, and her father was in the same room as them, sitting on the couch watching TV.

She said one of the only incidents of contact Siwale and the girl had was when she tried to sit on his lap. Christy said she immediately told her not to do that, stopped it from happening and reminded the girl that he was there to take care of her father, not to entertain her. The other incident was when the girl once asked him to lift her up like an airplane.

McHenry County Sheriff’s Detective Michelle Asplund, who investigated the case, testified that she spoke with Siwale in September about the allegations. In a recorded interview, Siwale told Asplund that the girl had never been left alone, and he didn’t remember putting her on his lap that day, but he did confirm the two watched YouTube videos.

Siwale said he thought the girl might be lying because he previously confronted her mother about stealing money from him. He claimed that her mother was giving him massages, because she was going to school for massage therapy, and during one of those incidents he believed she had taken money from him. The mother, who also testified, denied taking anything from him and said the two found the money he thought was stolen that same day.

“I can’t do such a thing because I treasure kids like they are my kids. … I’m turning 40 years old,” Siwale told the detective in September.

Siwale then told Asplund that it could be possible the girl thought he accidentally touched her when he was lifting her up to play airplane. Asplund refuted those statements and said the girl never mentioned anything about that.

Jura asked Asplund whether she ever spoke with Christy’s father, who was in the room at the time of the incident, and she said she did not. She also said Siwale was cooperative throughout the entire investigation and answered her questions.

The trial will resume Friday afternoon so the defense can present its case and for closing arguments.