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

CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois judge who sparked outrage by reversing a man’s rape conviction involving a 16-year-old girl has been removed from the bench after a judicial oversight body found he circumvented the law and engaged in misconduct. The Illinois Courts Commission removed Adams County Judge Robert Adrian from the bench Friday after sustaining a complaint filed against him. Adrian had in October 2021 found a then 18-year-old Michigan man guilty of sexual assaulting a 16-year-old girl during a May 2021 graduation party. But he threw out that conviction in January 2022, saying that the 148 days the man had spent in jail was punishment enough.