Rock Falls man, 34, charged with sexually abusing 15-year-old

Nicholas D. Degroot in May 2023

ROCK FALLS – A Rock Falls man is being held on $50,000 bond, after confessing to having sexual contact with a 15-year-old, Illinois State Police said in a news release Wednesday.

Nicholas D. Degroot, 34, was arrested Tuesday.

He is charged in Whiteside County Court with seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, punishable by three to seven years in prison and mandatory registration as a sex offender.

DeGroot has no felony history in Lee or Whiteside counties.

Kathleen Schultz

Kathleen A. Schultz

Kathleen Schultz is a Sterling native with 40 years of reporting and editing experience in Arizona, California, Montana and Illinois.