Cass County Sex Offender Re-Sentenced to Prison

By Benjamin Cox on July 27, 2021 at 7:59am

(Mugshot Provided By Pike County Sheriff's Office)

Beardstown man and previously convicted sex offender is heading back to prison.

31 year old Joshua S. Hare was sentenced in two separate cases in Cass County Court yesterday afternoon.

Hare was facing two counts of battery, two counts of aggravated battery, and two counts of aggravated domestic battery, two counts of criminal sexual abuse, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, one count of predatory criminal sexual assault, and one count of criminal sexual assault. In charging documents, the incidents all occurred on between December 15th-18th, 2018 in Cass County. The predatory criminal sexual assault was to a minor and was a Class X felony carrying up to a 60 year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Hare had previously been convicted of sex crimes in 2010. Hare was arrested in Pike County in January 2019 after warrants were issued for his arrest in Greene County. He has remained in custody since that time.

Judge Michael L. Atterberry heard an open plea on July 12th after a jury had been set to hear the case. Hare plead guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of aggravated battery with a prior conviction. In total, Hare was sentenced to 22 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, 2 years of Mandatory Supervised Release, and order to pay court fees of over $2,600. A contempt of court conviction in Pike County was ordered to be served concurrently with the sentence. Hare was given day-for-day credit of 931 days served in jail.

Atterberry said with all of the credit served and the appeal process, Hare will have to serve at least 8 ½ years in prison for the crimes. He was remanded back to the custody of the Cass County Sheriff’s Department for processing into IDOC.