FAYETTE COUNTY — A 30-year-old Vandalia man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday after he pleaded guilty Monday in Fayette County Court to sexually assaulting a child.
(Source: FCSO)
Matthew Crawford was arrested in December 2015 and charged with three counts Class X felony predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under the age of 13.
Crawford remained in the Fayette County Jail until October 2016 when he was released on $10,000 cash bond to await trial.
He was scheduled for a bench trial Tuesday, but instead pleaded guilty Monday to two of the charges against him, with the third charge being dismissed.
Judge Don Sheafor sentenced Crawford to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on Count One to be served consecutively to 10 years for Count 3.
Crawford will have to serve 3-years to life mandatory supervised release at the completion of at least 85 percent of his sentence. He will then have to register for life as a sex offender. He was given credit for 297 days already served in the county jail.
He was remanded back to the Fayette County Jail and his bond ordered returned to the person who posted it on his behalf.