After 23 years as an Elburn police officer, David Wright told a judge he has no money to hire an attorney, and expressed concern for his family’s financial well-being after his arrest last week on charges he sexually assaulted a female relative over the last decade.
“We’re living check to check,” 53-year-old Wright told Kane County Judge Clint Hull while requesting a public defender during a Wednesday hearing.
Wright faces a total of 21 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and sexual assault of a family member. Prosecutors allege Wright repeatedly assaulted the female for 10 years, beginning in 2005 when she was younger than 13. He remains held on $500,000 bail and is on administrative leave from the police department, authorities previously said, pending the outcome of the case.
Should Wright post $50,000 bond to be released, he is prohibited from any contact with his immediate family and must surrender any firearms or ammunition, according to court records.
During the hearing, Hull quizzed Wright on his finances to determine eligibility for a court-appointed attorney. Wright said he is married with three children and rented a home in Campton Hills for $1,400 a month. He owns four vehicles, but said he had no other assets or money in the bank. Wright indicated he was unable to access pension money and that the family owed $500,000 in medical bills to a children’s hospital.
At one point, Wright told Hull that he was on unpaid leave from his job and he was unsure what his wife would do without his monthly take home pay of $3,800. Hull said a hearing would take place at the end of the case to determine whether Wright would be required to pay toward his public defender’s work.
Prosecutors at the hearing turned over 162 pages of documents and five DVDs of interviews to Wright’s attorney. The case is scheduled for a May 21 hearing.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter