DECATUR â A prosecutor portrayed Jarquez A. Hobbs as a sexual predator who snatched a 5-year-old Decatur girl from her bed, raped her, and then left after kissing the sobbing child on the cheek and telling her âshe was no good to him anymore.â
The jury trial of Hobbs, 24, got underway Tuesday in Macon County Circuit Court. He is pleading not guilty to three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and a charge of home invasion.
Special prosecutor Kate Kurtz told jurors Hobbs was familiar with the layout of the apartment house on East Condit Street where the girl lived with her mother, the motherâs boyfriend and several other children. Kurtz said he knew where to find the girl after opening a window to unlock a door and slipping inside the childâs apartment around 5 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2019.