A Cass County man avoided prison time after pleading guilty to a single count of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor in Morgan County Circuit Court on September 23.
Bradley S. Werries, 35, of Beardstown pleaded guilty to one count of Class 2 felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Werries was arrested by South Jacksonville Police in July 2024 on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor as a part of ongoing investigation into events that allegedly occurred in early 2021. According to a Jacksonville Journal-Courier report at the time, Werries was also accused of distribution of explicit material to a minor and indecent solicitation of a minor but charges in relation to those accusations were not filed by the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Morgan County Circuit Judge Christopher Reif sentenced Werries to 4 years of adult probation and ordered payment of a $500 county fine. According to online court records, Werries was not given credit for any jail time served in the case.