Former Whiteside County man gets four years’ probation in child sex assault

MORRISON – A 51-year-old former rural Whiteside County man was sentenced to four years probation for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2016.

Jeffrey J. Smith was charged Aug. 19, 2016, in Whiteside County Court with two counts of predatory sexual assault of a child, which could be punishable by six to 30 years in prison, for molesting the girl in May 2016, when he was 45.

Those charges were amended Sept. 2 to include aggravated criminal sexual abuse, which carries three to seven years in prison but also is a probational offense.

Smith, who was freed on bond Aug. 22, 2016, and now lives in Mercer County, was convicted of the lesser charge and sentenced to four years’ probation, with two and a half years of periodic imprisonment.

Per a plea agreement, the other charges were dismissed.

Smith also was deemed by the court to be a sexual predator.