7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Grand Jury Files New Charges Against Former Orpheum Head
A Knox County grand jury has filed formal charges in the case of the now-former manager of Galesburg's Orpheum Theater accused of having sexual contact with a minor in the theater.

25-year old Josh Damewood was to have been in Knox County Circuit Court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing. But it was learned instead that a grand jury almost two weeks ago filed two felony counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse, replacing the same charges prosecutors had filed in the case.

Damewood originally was arrested in late-December, a few weeks after a 16-year old boy went to police claiming Damewood had performed sexual acts on him in October, after asking Damewood about a role he wanted in a theater production.

Damewood reportedly said, "You'll owe me a favor if I tell you your part."

He was later fired as Managing Director of the Orpheum, with a replacement yet to be found.

An arraignment hearing was scheduled for March 14th.

Damewood is out of jail on bond. Other than saying he understood the charges, Damewood, represented by Public Defender Karl Johnson, made no statements in court.


(Josh Damewood)
02 26 13 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Share

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

All AP stories are Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.