Justice for Riley Fox? Sex Offender Charged with 3-Year-Old's Rape and Murder
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) The road to justice for the family of Riley Fox has been long and difficult, but perhaps the family can begin to find closure, as police have now charged a convicted sex offender with Riley's rape and murder.
The charges allege that Scott Eby, a sex offender with a long rap sheet, abducted Riley Fox from her home on June 6, 2004, sexually assaulted her, bound her in duct tape, and then drowned her in a creek.
At first, prosecutors suspected the little girl's father, Kevin Fox, who first reported Riley missing from their home in Wilmington.
Five months later Kevin Fox was charged and convicted after prosecutors claimed he confessed to the drowning death of his daughter in a lengthy interrogation.
Kevin Fox spent eight months in jail before the FBI discovered that the DNA found on Riley's body did not match her father, but rather linked 38-year-old Eby to the crime. He was recently awarded $8.9 million in a civil suit for wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution.
"This case is a case that has torn at the very fabric of Will County," State Attorney James Glasgow told CBS affiliate WBBM.
Eby, who was on parole when this crime was committed, is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence for raping his sister in 2005.
Over six years ago, Riley was reported missing from the Fox's Illinois home. Volunteers scoured the area hoping that the little girl had just wandered off. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Hikers found Riley's body in a creek four miles away.
