A Barnhill man awaiting trial on serious sexual assault charges was released from the Wayne County Jail on Tuesday after court officials reported they were unable to gather enough potential jurors for his scheduled December 9th trial. 19-year-old Caleb T. Vaughan had been held since his September 25th arrest on charges of Class 1 felony criminal sexual assault with force and Class 4 felony criminal sexual abuse with force. Under the Illinois SAFE-T Act, detainees must be released if they cannot be brought to trial within 90 days, unless delays are caused by the defense.
With the 90-day deadline approaching, the court acknowledged it could not meet the requirement.
Judge Denton Aud expressed deep frustration over the ongoing difficulty in assembling juries in Wayne County.
“I’ve been coming to Wayne County for about two years now,” Judge Aud said. “It has become an epidemic that we cannot find enough jurors to have a trial. This is offensive to the court.”
The Circuit Clerk’s office reported that 125 juror questionnaires were sent out, but only 15 had been returned, leaving the court unable to form a viable jury pool.
Vaughan was released under strict pretrial conditions, including:
GPS monitoring
Home confinement, with approved exceptions for work and church
No contact of any kind with the alleged victim, including indirect or third-party communication
State’s Attorney Kyle Ellis told the court that the alleged victim had been notified and agreed to Vaughan’s release under these conditions.
The case is now scheduled for a status hearing with attorneys only on December 9th.