Illinois judge who reversed rape conviction removed from bench after panel finds he circumvented law

An Illinois judge who incited outrage by overturning a man’s rape conviction involving a 16-year-old girl has been ousted from the bench following a finding by a judicial oversight body that he circumvented the law and engaged in misconduct.

The Illinois Courts Commission removed Adams County Judge Robert Adrian from his position on Friday after conducting a three-day hearing in Chicago in November regarding a complaint filed against him.

The commission's decision states that Adrian "committed multiple instances of misconduct" and "misused his position of authority to satisfy his own interpretation of justice while evading legal procedures."

Although the commission had the option to issue a reprimand, censure, or suspension without pay, it chose to immediately remove Adrian from the bench in western Illinois’ Adams County, citing "sufficient grounds" for such action.

In October 2021, Adrian had convicted Drew Clinton, then 18 years old from Taylor, Michigan, of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl during a May 2021 graduation party.

Following Adrian's decision to overturn Clinton's conviction in January 2022, stating that the 148 days Clinton spent in jail constituted adequate punishment, the state Judicial Inquiry Board filed a complaint against him.

According to court transcripts, Adrian admitted that he was required to impose the mandatory four-year sentence on Clinton but refused to send him to prison, stating, "That is not just. I will not do that."

Clinton was accused of sexually assaulting Cameron Vaughan.

Vaughan, who was 18 at the time, expressed shock at Adrian's reversal of Clinton's verdict and vowed to remove the judge from office. She attended the November commission proceedings with her family, friends, and supporters.

Following the dismissal of Clinton's conviction by Adrian, Vaughan recounted that the judge remarked in court, "This is what happens whenever parents allow teenagers to drink alcohol, to swim in pools with their undergarments on," a statement corroborated by a court transcript of the January 2022 hearing.

Adrian's decision sparked widespread outrage in Vaughan’s hometown of Quincy, Illinois, and beyond, with the prosecutor in the case expressing empathy for the victim.

Vaughan, commenting on the commission's decision to remove Adrian, told the Chicago Tribune that she was "extremely pleased that the commission recognized all the wrongdoing and falsehoods that he perpetuated throughout. I am incredibly relieved right now. He cannot harm anyone else. He cannot ruin another person's life."

When contacted by phone on Friday, Adrian told the Chicago Tribune that the commission's decision to remove him was "completely unjust. I acted in accordance with what was right. I have consistently been truthful about it."

Adams County court records reveal that Clinton's guilty verdict was overturned due to the prosecution's failure to meet the burden of proof to establish Clinton's guilt.

However, in its decision on Friday, the commission stated that it considered Adrian's assertion that "he reversed his guilty verdict based on a reassessment of the evidence and his conclusion that the State had not proven its case" to be a pretext—an attempt to rationalize the reversal retroactively.

Under the Fifth Amendment, Clinton cannot be retried for the same crime. A motion to expunge Clinton's record was denied in February 2023.