Plainfield Man Convicted of Raping 15-Year-Old Girl

A Will County jury has convicted a Plainfield man of sexually assault a 15-year-old girl in the bathroom of a friend's home.

Brian D. Peppers, 23, was found guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse stemming from the attack that occurred on Feb. 28, 2010, according to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times. The conviction came at the end of a four-day trial; he will be sentenced July 23.

Peppers was accused of following the girl, then a freshman at Joliet West High School, into a bathroom and raping her during a party, the story said. The parents of the party's hosts were asleep in another room.

The host, in fact, walked in on them, believed the sex to be consensual and warned them that his parents were sleeping upstairs, according to trial testimony. Peppers then took the girl to the basement of the home, the story said.

In Peppers' defense, attorney Julie Primozic said party witnesses weren’t credible and questioned the girl's account given that she lied to her parents about going to the house, where minors were drinking. Primozic also said the victim didn’t cry out or try to make Peppers stop, the story said.