A Streator man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl.

When offered a chance to speak, Bernard W. Fairman III, 38, rose in La Salle County Circuit Court and told his sentencing judge he was sorry. Fairman said he, too, had been abused as a child and lamented that he did not speak up or seek help.

“I’m not a perfect person,” Fairman said during a rambling and halting statement in allocution. “It was wrong to do something like this.”

The show of remorse wasn’t enough for La Salle County Circuit Judge Michelle A. Vescogni. La Salle County prosecutors had, in exchange for Fairman’s plea, pledged to seek no more than two back-to-back sentences of 10 years. Vescogni decided the recommended time was warranted and rejected Fairman’s calls for leniency.

Fairman was charged after an investigation, launched in May 2024 to reports of illicit sexual contact with a minor starting before the girl had turned 10.

La Salle County prosecutors were prepared to show, at trial, digital evidence in which Fairman tried to defend his conduct and/or blame the victim, but Fairman cut a deal on the cusp of trial and entered twin blind pleas to predatory criminal sexual assault.

At sentencing Thursday, Assistant Public Defender Doug Kramarsic asked Vescogni to limit Fairman’s time to back-to-back terms of six years each. Kramarsic called the guilty plea, and averting a trial, a “very strong mitigating factor.”

Assistant La Salle County State’s Attorney Matt Kidder asked for the full 20 years, citing Fairman’s “serious” juvenile record and failures to comply with probation. Kidder said the acts committed against the girl amounted to “systematic molestation.”

“We see a lot of bad things in this line of work. It doesn’t get much worse than this.”

Fairman’s sentence is subject to the state Truth in Sentencing Act, requiring certain felons to serve at least 85% of their prison sentences. With 470 days’ credit for time served, Fairman could be paroled in a little over 15 years.