A motion hearing in the civil lawsuit against former Madison County attorney Lowell Thomas Lakin alleging sexual assault on a minor boy has been continued again.
On Dec. 11, St. Clair County Associate Judge Heinz Rudolph reset the hearing to Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. because one of the attorneys couldn’t attend the December hearing date. The hearing has now been continued more than five times in the last nine months.
Lakin was sued by John Doe, Mary Doe, Joseph Doe, Jane Doe, Julie Doe and James Doe in 2006, accusing Lakin of sexual acts with minors.
The case was originally filed under seal in Madison County, but former Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis unsealed and transferred the lawsuit to St. Clair County.
Lakin was charged with sexual offenses and drug distribution by federal prosecutors. The sex charges were dismissed after he pleaded guilty to the drug charge. Then in 2011, he registered as a sex offender in criminal proceedings before Madison County Circuit Judge Charles Romani.
Lakin was scheduled to be released from a halfway house on Nov. 30.
Lakin’s attorney in the criminal case, Ben Allen, filed an affidavit arguing that a stipulation Lakin made before Romani was accepted in order to prevent a guilty plea and would also protect Lakin in civil court.
Plaintiff attorney Thomas Q. Keefe of Belleville responded to the affidavit in an addendum for summary judgment claiming the stipulation Romani read into record was not challenged and was accepted as “my stipulation” by Allen, thus grounding the stipulation in truth.
The stipulation states, “The stipulation of facts alleges the state and defendant herein stipulate to the truth of the following facts: that this offense occurred during and about April 2005 to October 2005; … L. Thomas Lakin was a family friend of [Doe]; that during this time period, while at the defendant’s home … the defendant performed oral sex on [Doe].”
Lakin’s civil attorney, Clyde Kuehn of Belleville, responded to the addendum arguing that a judicial admission is binding on the party making it in criminal court but becomes an ordinary evidentiary admission and is not binding in subsequent cases.
Samantha Unsell of Wood River also represents the plaintiffs.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 6-L-363
Lakin’s hearing continued again in St. Clair County
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