Judge sentences Sycamore teen to probation for sex abuse

SYCAMORE – A former Sycamore High School student accused of sexually assaulting four girls was sentenced to probation Wednesday in DeKalb County court and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Cody P. Lynch, a 19-year-old jailed since his arrest 414 days ago in May 2015, pleaded guilty in August to a single count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a girl who was 13 when the crime occurred in April 2015. During a sentencing hearing that concluded Wednesday, prosecutors linked Lynch to three other sexual assaults involving teenage girls.

Chief Judge Robbin Stuckert sentenced Lynch to two years of probation.

“Every one of these young women has suffered trauma,” she told Lynch. “You have caused that trauma.”

The judge ordered Lynch to undergo sex offender treatment, have no unsupervised contact with minors and register as a sex offender for life. She further sentenced Lynch to 180 days in jail. However, he was given credit for time served and ordered released.

Prosecutors wanted Lynch sentenced to five years in prison. He faced a maximum sentence of seven years. Lynch’s attorney, Robert Carlson of the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office, asked the judge for probation.

Stuckert said sending Lynch to prison would do nothing to rehabilitate him because he wouldn’t be able to get sex offender treatment in prison. She said probation would enable him to get treatment, which was what the victim in the case wanted.

"What you have done to me can't be put in words, although I feel you need to know how much you impacted my life," the girl wrote in a victim impact statement to the court. "I lost trust for people. It's harder for me to make friends. I can't focus on my schoolwork most days.
I hate being away from my mother, even if it's for an hour or so, I hate being home alone."

The girl also wrote about how the crime had affected her family. She said many of her relatives blamed themselves for what happened.

“I hated you and wanted you locked up forever and [for] them to throw the key away, but that’s not how I was raised,” she wrote. “... I’m healing and that’s one thing you can’t take from me. ... And if you are released, I strongly suggest you get a lot of help and never harm anyone again so long as you are alive.”

In one of the alleged but uncharged cases, Assistant State’s Attorney Alicia Caplan said Lynch raped a 14-year-old virgin who screamed for him to stop while Lynch’s friend laughed.

Before the judge sentenced Lynch, he made a short statement.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “... It should have never happened.”

The judge said she was alarmed by the allegations in the uncharged cases, especially by the fact that people watched but failed to intervene in the alleged sexual assault of a teenager. However, she pointed out that prosecutors didn’t bring charges in those cases.

Prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of sexual assault in exchange for Lynch’s guilty plea in August, according to court records. At that time, prosecutors also dropped a misdemeanor case involving another girl and said they would not press charges in two other cases, records show.

Lynch will be released to live with his father’s neighbor in Pekin.

The judge ordered that he attend school or get a GED, get a job and abide by the conditions of his sentence. She warned him that should he violate any of those conditions, he could face further punishment.