Shelby Co., Ill. (ECWd) –

Citizens of Shelby County may recall the search for a missing Pana, Illinois, minor that resulted in the arrest of Kristopher R. Karcher.  We covered that in this article.

“Mr. Karcher (34yrs old) drove from Shelbyville to Taylorville and picked up a 13 yr old child and repeatedly raped her. He was arrested in his apartment where the police located the minor with the Defendant. That was after several days where the police where looking for the abducted child and news coverage everywhere! Upon his arrival at his apartment in Shelbyville, Karcher immediately raped the child. The child’s description is seared into my memory, but not appropriate for me to repeat. Karcher even instructed the child to turn off her cellular phone so the police would not be able to find her. (That showed a guilty mind, and was a great fact for trial). Fortunately, he left his own phone on, and police tracked his phone to his apartment in Shelbyville. He was found with the child in his apartment! There were crimes that were not charged such as his digital penetration of the child in the car in Taylorville, as that act took place
in Christian County. There is no doubt that Karcher engaged in the acts charged and there was no legitimate defense to the charges.” (Former State’s Attorney Rob Hanlon)

According to the judici.com docket entry, there were 8 Class 1 Felony counts of Criminal Sexual Assault of a minor.

During the detention hearing after his arrest, the judge’s docket entry is about as strong as any we have seen. The prior State’s Attorney Robert Hanlon offered a 20-year sentence.

“COURT CONSIDERS THE 48-HOUR AFFIDAVIT AS WELL AS THE SEARCH WARRANT APPLICATION IN 2024-MX-1; COURT FINDS THAT STATE HAS PROVEN BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT THE DEFENDANT COMMITTED THE OFFENSES AS CHARGED; FURTHER, BASED ON THE EVIDENCE, THE STATE HAS PROVEN THE DEFENDANT POSES BOTH A REAL DANGER TO A SPECIFIED PERSON AND TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE; FURTHER, THE COURT FINDS THAT NO COMBINATION OF CONDITIONS CAN MITIGATE THE REAL AND PRESENT THREAT;”

Shelby County State’s Attorney Ruth Woolery amended the information for counts 1 and 2 to a Class 2 Felony and accepted a plea deal on those 2 reduced charges while the rest have been dropped. The sentencing was 5 years in DOC with credit for time served, 182 days.  With good behavior and the 1:1 credit, he could be out in 2 years.

We reached out to the prior State’s Attorney Rob Hanlon and the current State’s Attorney Ruth Woolery for comment on this case. Hanlon provided a very powerful response in an email at this link, which was cc’d to the current State’s Attorney.  Within that email was information a select few in the county should read and understand before passing judgment on cases they know little about.

“This was a case that was easily proved and for any sex case could be characterized as a slam dunk. However, during my term of office as State’s Attorney I was often aware of facts and circumstances the public was unaware of with regard to other cases that resulted in a decision that the public did not necessarily agree with. I attributed those reactions to the uninformed nature of the scope of the public’s knowledge on those matters. However, I do not respond without a full understanding of the facts and charges and underlying evidence.” (emphasis added)

We are still awaiting a response from Woolery to two questions we asked her.

1. Do you have any explanation for dropping all but one charge on the Karcher child rape case? (correction sent as all but “two charges were dropped)
   
2. Was there something that developed in this case that led to this decision?