JEFFERSON COUNTY — The bench trial of a 71-year-old former Woodlawn deacon and retired carpenter is scheduled to be heard Tuesday in Jefferson County court before Judge Jerry Crisel.
(Source: JCSO)
Charles E. Sanders was charged in a 2013 grand jury indictment with three Class X felony counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. Each Class X count is punishable in Illinois by up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The case has trudged through the court process for more than three years, with Sanders waiving trial by jury last month and agreeing to have the case heard by a judge.
The indictment alleges that between 2002 and 2003, Sanders committed acts of sexual penetration on a young girl and that between 2010 and 2012, he committed the same or similar acts on at least one different young girl under the age of 13.
Sanders has remained free on $25,000 cash bond that was posted shortly after his October 2013 arrest.