Man awaiting trial granted visits with girl

Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)

Author: GARY L. SMITH

HENNEPIN - A Granville man awaiting trial for allegedly murdering a 3-year-old foster child in his home last fall was granted court permission Thursday to see his 4-year-old biological daughter for the first time in about three months.

Matthew Archer, 28, will be allowed to have 90-minute supervised visits with the girl five days a week under an order issued by Circuit Judge Scott Shore in a Putnam County Juvenile Court hearing.

"When she sees (her) dad, she's going to be the happiest little girl in this whole world," said the girl's mother, Janis Archer, who recently married the defendant after a nine-year relationship.

Shore's ruling came at the request of the three attorneys who separately represent Matthew Archer, his wife and the little girl. Testimony and attorneys' statements indicated the court order barring contact had been traumatic for the daughter.

Archer is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery in Jordan Cain's death on Oct. 25. The original charge alleged he dropped his body knee-first onto the girl's abdomen. A grand jury indictment later broadened that statement to say he caused her death by blunt force trauma.

Archer, represented by Peoria attorney Kevin Sullivan, has pleaded innocent. His trial, originally set for mid-February, recently was changed to May 10.

Jordan Cain was one of three children of a sister of Janis Archer's. The children had been placed in foster care in the home that Matthew and Janis Archer shared. The other two children have since been placed in other foster homes.

One of the witnesses Thursday for Archer was Thelma Smith, who is Janis Archer's mother and the grandmother of both Jordan Cain and the Archers' girl. The 4-year-old "starts crying for Daddy all the time," she testified.

"She's always been Daddy's little girl," Smith said. "She wants to see him, she wants to be with him all the time."

The girl has been staying with another of Janis Archer's sisters since the charges were filed. Janis Archer, who has a late work schedule, says it is better for the sister to take the girl to and from pre-school.

Matthew Archer has been living at home since his release on bail in late November, Janis said.

Under Shore's order, the visits will be in the home of a family friend and baby sitter, Deborah Turner of Hennepin, who will first undergo a background investigation. Turner told Shore she would "most definitely" monitor the visits closely and report anything improper.

"I have turned (a relative) in four times for child abuse," Turner said.

Mack, who opposed the visits, has stated he will not seek the death penalty in the murder case. Archer would face 20 to 60 years in prison if convicted on that charge.