Decatur man gets 10 years for child sexual abuse

Apr. 21—DECATUR — A Decatur man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a preteen girl for years has been sentenced to prison for 10 years.

John H. Bennett, 44, took a plea deal negotiated by defense attorney Lindsay Evans and admitted to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Macon County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Thomas Griffith then agreed to dismiss two further counts of predatory criminal sexual assault.

The crimes against the child were revealed in January 2023 when the girl told someone at her middle school that Bennett had sexually assaulted her in her Decatur home. The state's Department of Children and Family Services was called in and then alerted detectives with the Decatur Police Department.

Detective James Knierim, who signed a sworn affidavit in the case, said the incidents began in March 2020 and the child finally told her mother about the assaults in December 2021, "and the sexual abuse stopped and never happened again," Knierim said.

The mother said she confronted Bennett, who said he accidentally touched the child's chest "while they were cuddling in John's bed," he said.

But when her child finally revealed two years later what had really happened, the mother told police she had no doubt her daughter was telling the truth.

"(The mother) said (the child) has never made anything like this up in the past and that she believes her," Knierim said.

Bennett has a previous conviction for solicitation of a sexual act in Coles County in 2014.

Bennett had been pleading not guilty to the latest charges against him and his case had been set for a jury trial April 15. But he changed his mind and took the plea deal on the day the trial was due to begin.

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Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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