Beardstown Man Reaches Plea Agreement in January Sexual Abuse Case

By Benjamin Cox on November 1, 2022 at 3:24pm

A Beardstown man arrested by the Illinois State Police in January for a sexual abuse case involving a minor has pleaded guilty to an amended charge.

21 year old David L. Hernandez of Beardstown pleaded guilty to an added charge of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. According to the amended charge, Hernandez hit an unidentified individual about the body on or about September 23, 2020.

Hernandez was arrested by Illinois State Police DCI Zone 4 agents for aggravated criminal sexual abuse after a 10-month long investigation on January 25th. According to a State police report at the time, Hernandez began being investigated after a minor victim disclosed a sexual relationship with Hernandez. The Cass County State’s Attorney’s Office filed criminal information on January 27th for two counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse of a minor. Both counts were dropped per the plea in Cass County Court on Monday.

Hernandez was sentenced to 30 months of adult probation and ordered to pay fines, fees, and court costs in the amount of $6,750. Hernandez was given credit for 14 days served in the Schuyler County Jail.