PEORIA, Ill. — A federal jury has convicted a Danville woman of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl after she and her husband misrepresented themselves to gain custody of the child.
According to the Department of Justice, 37-year-old Nicole Eason cried when the verdicts were announced Friday. She and her 46-year-old husband, Calvin, who pleaded guilty to the same counts, face sentencing in March.
Prosecutors allege the Easons participated in an online discussion board with adoptive parents seeking new homes for children they no longer could care for. A California couple brought their adopted child to the couple in 2007. The girl spent about a month in their care before an activist whisked the girl out of Danville. The couple was arrested in April.
The girl testified that both Easons sexually abused her.