Glenn Ramey, emerging from the jury room area of the Richland County Courthouse in Olney on Tuesday, November 29, after a first advisement of charges.
RICHLAND CO., Ill. - The man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering an Olney girl on November 23 faced a judge in Richland County this afternoon to hear charges against him.
Glenn R. Ramey, 53, of Olney, clad in gray-striped jail togs and socks with sandals, sat alone at the defense table with his wrists and ankles shackled for a 15-minute hearing in which the charges against him were read by Judge Larry Dunn.
Ramey, who before taking up residence in a trailer court in Olney had been living a rather transient life on the backs of the taxpayers (via several state agencies), has been charged with two very serious counts in the death of Sabrina Stauffenberg, age 8, also of Olney: Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault, a Class X felony, and a single Class M count of First Degree Murder, which carries with it a mandatory prison sentence if convicted.
When the details of the First Degree Murder charge were formally read to Ramey, members of Stauffenberg's family, nearly a dozen of whom were attending the hearing, were sobbing and sniffling audibly. That turned into much louder cries of anguish, however, when the details of the Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault, the second to be addressed, were read.
The horror the family was undergoing was obvious and cannot be overstated; victim impact coordinators from State's Attorney Brad Vaughn's office were present and trying to console the family.
Ramey, however, sat silent at the defense table, barely moving except to shift his wrist shackles and try to keep his seat in the chair, where he was hunched against the glares of not only the family, but a host of media and a handful of deputies positioned strategically in the courtroom so that if anyone were to jump the gate to the defense table, the deputies would be able to intercept them.
That, fortunately, didn't happen. In fact, not much did. Ramey heard his charges and the possible sentencing ranges for both of them, and had it explained to him how he would be appointed counsel if he couldn't afford one. He said he could not, and Public Defender Jim Lane, who was in the courtroom today, was appointed.
Dunn then asked Ramey if he had any questions.
"So everybody done made up their mind?" Ramey said in what can only be described as a pissed-off drawl.
Dunn carefully explained that that definitely wasn't the case.
"No," he told Ramey. "I'm explaining to you how that's not true, when I told you that you were innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."
Dunn was very patient but it's unclear as to whether Ramey is able to comprehend most of what he was told. He seemed quite resigned and, by the look of his demeanor and posture in the courtroom as well as when leaving the courtroom, somewhat aggravated at the proceedings.
He is being held on a million-dollar cash bond.
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