An Auburn man faces the potential of spending the rest of his natural life behind bars after a Sangamon County jury found him guilty last week of several sex crimes against a minor.

The Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office says that 34 year old Mason E. Bertrand of Auburn was found guilty of of three counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault, three counts of Criminal Sexual Assault, and one count each of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, and Unlawful Restraint. Bertrand is scheduled for sentencing before Associate Judge Jennifer Ascher on November 17th. He faces a potential sentence of up to 225 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office Juvenile Division Chief Kendra Hansel and Felony Division Chief Mary Beth Rodgers successfully prosecuted the defendant in coordination with the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department.

Felony Division Chief, Mary Beth Rodgers said in a press release that Sangamon County works hard to prosecute these types of crimes, especially for the most vulnerable in the community: “Survivors of these terrible offenses deserve a coordinated investigation and prosecution that puts the child first so they feel supported, validated, and empowered to come forward and help us hold these offenders responsible. We appreciate the hard work by the CAC and their multi-disciplinary team, including the SCSO in helping this child be heard and believed.”

Law enforcement reported back that Bertrand had committed crimes against a family member, who is under the age of 13 after his arrest by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputies on January 30, 2020.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for a Pleasant Plains football player who collapsed during a football game in Riverton on Saturday.

Jayden Veesenmeyer, a senior running back, exited the game before collapsing on the team’s sidelines. Veesenmeyer was attended to by trainers on the sideline before being taken off the field by ambulance to Springfield.

According to the GoFundMe page, Veesenmeyer suffered a subdural hematoma after a hit in the game and had to be rushed to emergency surgery.

The GoFundMe page is to help offset medical expenses for Veesenmeyer’s family.

Saturday’s game was halted and will be concluded at a date yet to be determined. The Pleasant Plains Volleyball team carries on tonight in Pawnee as they play for the Sangamon County championship versus Athens.

All teams in the area have been encouraged to wear blue in support of Veesenmeyer’s recovery.

Justice Graphics has also created shirts for people to order. All profit will be donated back to Veesenmeyer’s family to help cover any expenses they may encounter during this time.

An Auburn man who struck and killed a woman outside the Casey’s in Auburn in the summer of 2020 and later pled guilty to 3 counts of driving under the influence of drugs was sentenced in Sangamon County Court last week.

45 year old Bennie L. Jackson of Auburn was sentenced to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on Wednesday by Sangamon County Circuit Judge Gail Noll.

According to the State Journal Register, Jackson was operating an Auburn Township dump truck when he failed to negotiate a curve on Illinois Route 4, drove through a ditch over Lincoln Street in Auburn, and landed in the gas station’s parking lot before striking and killing 62 year old Obaidah Karen Gresham of Auburn who was standing outside of her vehicle.

Jackson pled guilty to charges back on July 8^th.

The State Journal Register says that Sangamon County State’s Atttorney Dan Wright reported that investigators discovered that the dump truck Jackson was driving over 40,000 pounds at the time of the crash and toxicology reports showed that Jackson was intoxicated with cocaine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine while in operation of the truck.

Wright told the SJ-R that the family’s victim impact statements in court were deeply moving through grace and forgiveness.

Jackson must serve 85% of his sentence, according to Illinois Truth In Sentencing laws.

An area lawmaker says West Central Illinois prisons are in fair shape despite shortcomings of leadership in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

State lawmakers on the Legislative Audit Commission questioned IDOC Director Rob Jeffreys last week after a recent audit found lapses in the department’s financial reporting and several crucial unfilled vacancies.

According to a report by WGEM, Jeffreys responded that his department was understaffed when it undertook an enhanced workload to keep people inside the state’s prison system safe during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some lawmakers on the commission were not satisfied with the answer, as Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino gave the department 60 findings for the 2-year audit; 46 of those findings were repeated from a previous audit.

100th District State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer says locally, the Jacksonville Correctional Center, the Pittsfield Work Camp, and the Greene County Work Camp are in good standing despite the problems with leadership at the state level: “One of the biggest concerns in the Department of Corrections right now is employment, hiring, and [human resources]; which is not unique just to the Department of Corrections. It’s happening across both the public and private sector – finding good, quality, qualified employees.”

IDOC says it currently has 1,100 vacancies within the agency.

Several state lawmakers from both parties have also renewed questions about the state of Pontiac Correctional Center. The concern is drawn from February when roughly 170 inmates were transferred out of the facility to other prisons with little to no notice for facility staff. Jacksonville and Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mt. Sterling took on some of those transferred inmates. Jeffreys told the Legislative Audit Commission on Wednesday that there are no plans in place to close the Pontiac facility.

Davidsmeyer says he doesn’t buy that statement from Jeffreys: “I think there is an effort in general to close correctional facilities because they don’t believe people committing crimes did anything. They don’t believe in personal responsibility. That is the issue that we are dealing with right now, is that somehow the person committing the crime is the victim. There was a memo, an internal memo within the Department of Corrections that talked about the closing of Pontiac. Secretary Jeffreys said, ‘Oh no. That was never part of the plan.’ Well, you don’t release an internal document like that when it is not part of the plan. It doesn’t get past a verbal discussion without being part of a set of potential plans. I think that certainly Jeffreys decided not to answer a lot of questions. He passed the buck off to a lot of his staff. It’s certainly trying to hide the truth of what’s really going on.”

WGEM reports that Legislative Audit Commission Chair Fred Crespo of Downers Grove hopes that the questions with Jeffreys produced some help or ideas for hiring more employees for IDOC and addresses the future of the Pontiac facility in the near term.

Davidsmeyer says that the Illinois GOP will likely be drafting up potential fixes for the upcoming Spring session after the November General Election. You can hear more of Davidsmeyer’s thoughts on IDOC at this link.

The Jersey County State’s Attorney has sued the state over a new criminal justice reform bill.

Riverbender reports that Jersey County State’s Attorney Ben Goetten has sued the State of Illinois in regard to the SAFE-T Act.

Goetten told Riverbender he’s hopeful that the Illinois General Assembly will amend the law prior to implementation on January 1^st. Goetten though said he wanted to send a strong message from Jersey County that they weren’t in favor of “installing a revolving door at our jailhouse” when it comes to provisions that eliminating cash bail and requiring circuit judges to determine detainable offenses.

Goetten went on to say the act strips vital tools from law enforcement and strips discretion from judges. “The problems of Cook County are not the problems of downstate communities like ours,” he went on to say.

Goetten says that he used a similar draft complaint filed by the civil division of the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office. Goetten hopes the courts will render the law unconstitutional or at least put a pause on implementation until 2024 so stakeholders can make what he calls “common sense reforms.”

The SAFE-T Act has continued to be a heated topic for many across the state as the November General Election draws closer. Republicans and Democrats alike have called for reforms of the bill that was signed into law back in January.

Illinois College’s enrollment remains at a near record for the fourth straight year in a row.

Illinois College administration announced on Friday that the college has 1,030 students enrolled for the Fall semester on campus and online. It makes for the fourth straight year that I.C. has been at or above the 1,000 mark.

The 2022 Fall Semester brings the largest ever cohort of international students to campus representing 16 countries from around the world. Enrollment includes 266 first-year students from 20 different states and 55 transfer students, with 18 transfers from nearby Lincoln College, which closed this year. The average GPA of incoming students was 3.61.

Illinois College administration credits expanded academic program offerings both on campus and online for the 21% increase in student population over the last 4 years.

The announcement of Fall enrollment comes on the heels of the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation naming the school the Harold Cox Industry of the Year.

Local authorities are looking for the identities of a man who stole a truck and trailer from a local construction company and then set it on fire and left it to burn.

According to a Facebook post from the Henson Robinson Company, a man broke into their lot in the 3500 block of Great Northern Avenue in Springfield and took copper pipe and fittings along with a Petersburg Plumbing and Excavating truck and Trotter trailer between 10pm and 1am.

The post says that the truck was later found at approximately 3AM by Sangamon County authorities on fire on Interstate 72. The trailer and the copper is still missing, according to the post.

Henson Robinson is offering a reward for information leading to an arrest. You may submit a tip to Henson Robinson directly at 217-544-8451 or call the Sangamon-Menard Crime Stoppers at 217-788-8427. Anonymous tips may also be left online at https://www.cashfortips.us/ or use the P3 mobile app.

The Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation honored two organizations last night for its annual investor appreciation night.

The 2021 Harold Cox Industry of the Year is Illinois College. President Kristin Jamison says that Illinois College’s growth at a time during small liberal colleges are closing all across the country shows the strength of the institution. She also says that the college is a vital economic engine for the region: “We are just really excited about the forward movement of Illinois College in the last couple of years, especially given such a difficult time in the state of small liberal arts colleges across the country. In fact, they have increased their enrollment by 21% during a really difficult time and increased course offerings offering more to their student body.”

Jamison also noted the new construction at Crispin Hall as another sign that the college is growing.

The Champion Award for 2021 was awarded to the Morgan County Fair Association. The Champion Award is given to an entity that does not have economic development as its primary purpose.

Jamison says that the Fair Association’s work at the fairgrounds over the last several years, though, has developed the local economy by attracting many people from outside the region to come to Jacksonville: “The [Fair’s] live concerts have brought thousands of people to Jacksonville every summer. Updates to the 4-H building, the pavilion, and the grandstand bring other events to our community that might not otherwise be held here. Certainly, the year-round livestock shows are extremely important to the Morgan County Fair Association. The Fairground in general with the dirt track racing – it’s been around for decades – is now certainly now on elevated level now that the races are being televised nationally.”

The meeting last night also noted several recent accomplishments by JREDC including successfully adding the former MacMurray College campus to the Enterprise Zone, collaborating with the City of Jacksonville and the Illinois Housing Development Authority to complete a Community Revitalization Project, and helping facilitate nearly $3 million in local, state, and federal grants to small businesses as a Community Navigator during the pandemic. JREDC is also working with the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce to pilot a program to connect area high school students to jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Jamison says there are more exciting economic announcements on the horizon for the region, but the night was meant to focus on JREDC’s appreciation of its investors and the two award recipients’ exemplary work in the region.