Local man faces lengthy prison sentence for child molestation

Posted on December 2, 2020
Austin Doyle, 30, of Normal. (Photo courtesy: McLean County Jail)

By Heart of Illinois ABC

BLOOMINGTON – A man from Normal has pleaded guilty to committing multiple sex crimes against a child.

Normal Police arrested Austin Doyle, 30, earlier this year. He pleaded guilty Monday to six Class X felony charges of predatory criminal sexual assault, all involving the same victim. The assaults happened from 2017 to January of this year, according to prosecutors.

The sentences must run consecutively on each count, so Doyle faces 36 to 360 years in prison. Doyle will have to serve 85% of the prison term under the truth-in-sentencing law, and he’ll be required to register as a sex offender if he’s ever released from prison.

The state’s attorney and defense have not agreed on a sentencing recommendation.

McLean County Judge Casey Costigan is scheduled to sentence Doyle February 5.

Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected]. 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…