Jerad Gale, former police officer on the Champaign and Monticello departments, pleaded guilty Friday in Champaign County Circuit Court to two felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in two separate cases involving two women.
As part of a deal that included his guilty plea to an identical Class 2 charge on a third victim in Piatt County, Gale, 32, was sentenced to six months in jail, 48 months of probation and lifetime registration as a sexual predator.
If convicted of his original charges, which included two counts of Class X aggravated criminal sexual assault – each punishable by six to 30 years in prison – he could have been sentenced to lengthy consecutive prison terms, if convicted by juries at separate trials.
The jail sentence he received, to begin Friday, June 3, in Piatt County, is to be served concurrently on all three charges. Likewise, his three 48-month felony probation terms are to be served concurrently.
