As young accuser testifies, ex-cop pleads guilty to sex assault

While a teenage girl was testifying against the man who sexually assaulted her for more than 10 years, the defendant, a former northwest suburban police officer, abruptly halted the trial and pleaded guilty.

David L. Wright, 54, agreed Tuesday to a sentence of 23 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of criminal sexual assault, according to the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.

Wright was an Elburn police officer at the time he was charged, according to a statement from the Elburn Police Department.

He repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl, who was younger than 13 at the time, between March 2005 and April 2015, prosecutors said in a statement.

“The victim had been on the witness stand for about 30 minutes, emotionally describing the crimes committed against her, when Wright without warning chose to plead guilty, ending the trial,” prosecutors said.

“I cannot overstate the tremendous courage shown by this victim since this case was reported,” state’s attorney Joe McMahon said in the statement. “Her life has been unimaginably altered, and we are proud of her willingness to speak out and confront her abuser.”

The plea includes an order of protection that prohibits Wright, who knew the girl when the assaults began, from having any contact with her for five years after his release, according to prosecutors.

Circuit Judge Donald Tegeler Jr., accepted the plea, and also ordered Wright, of the of the 43W block of McDonald Road in Campton Hills, to register for life as a sexual offender, prosecutors said.

He will receive credit for 478 days served in the Kane County jail, where he has been held since his arrest on a $500,000 bond, prosecutors said.