Jacksonville Man Heading Back to DHS in Criminal Sex Assault Case

By Benjamin Cox on October 19, 2021 at 5:59pm

A Jacksonville man accused of sexual assault of a child is heading back to the Department of Human Services.

36 year old Larry D. Johnson of Jacksonville was found unfit to stand trial for the second time after an evaluation by Dr. Terry Killian last month. Johnson is facing four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child stemming from incidents in 2018 with two separate victims.

Public Defender Tom Piper had earlier asserted that Johnson was unfit to stand trial after a mental health examination in January 2020. Johnson was returned to fitness in September 2020.

Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll says that the trial process starts all over once again. Noll says that Piper asserts that his client’s mental fitness has deteriorated since being returned to the Morgan County Jail: “An evaluation was done by two separate psychiatrists recently indicating that the defendant is unfit to stand trial. Today, the parties stipulated to those reports and the judge remanded him back down to receive treatment from the Department of Human Services with the goal of restoring him to fitness.”

If Johnson is returned to fitness and stands trial, he could face a mandatory life sentence in prison. A status has been set on a report of Johnson’s fitness for December 7th.