Online Staff Report

Justen Cunningham, 20, has been sentenced to a total of 25 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections — 20 for the offense of home invasion and five for the offense of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Cunningham was found guilty Jan. 25 after a jury trial in front of Judge Joseph McGraw.

Dec. 23, 2009, police officers responded to an address on Eastgate Parkway in reference to a home invasion. When officers arrived, they met with the female victim in the bathroom and saw she had dried blood around her nose.

Officers noticed blood in the bathroom sink and on a CD player in the bathroom. The victim stated she went for a walk around the block and noticed a male subject with a royal blue jacket, gray hoodie and dark jeans carrying a shovel. She told officers she recognized the male as someone who had done yard work in the area and at her house before.

The victim further stated that after she returned home, she left the front door unlocked as she began getting ready for work in the bathroom. She then said she saw out of the corner of her eye the same male from outside coming into the bathroom.

She said the suspect put his hand over her mouth and closed the door. She said the suspect told her to be quiet and take her shirt off. She said she tried to pull his fingers away from her mouth and pull at his arms, and she was able to push him against the door, but then he pushed her into the bathtub and she hit her head in the bathtub. She said while she was in the bathtub the suspect kicked her in the face and she pretended to be unconscious and the suspect walked out of the bathroom.

The victim said her nose started to bleed when he first grabbed her mouth and it bled more when he kicked her.

Cunningham was developed as a suspect. Cunningham spoke with detectives and gave a written statement admitting he was shoveling snow Dec. 23, 2009, and he saw a female go into a house. The defendant admitted he knew the person who lived at the house wasn’t home because his truck wasn’t there. The defendant admitted he tried the front door and it was unlocked, so he went in.

The defendant admitted going into the bathroom and putting his hand over the victim’s mouth because she screamed. The defendant said she told him she was going to call the police, so he panicked and pushed her and she fell in the bathtub. Cunningham entered the home without legal authority.

Home invasion is a class X felony with a sentencing range of six to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a class 3 felony with a sentencing range of two to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Posted April 3, 2012