Polo carnival worker sentenced to prison for attempted sexual assault

OREGON – An 18-year-old Woodridge man has begun serving a three-year prison sentence for the criminal sexual assault of a Polo woman in June.

Ronald Peacock was transferred Oct. 18 from the Ogle County Jail to the Northern Reception and Classification Center at the Stateville Correction Center in Crest Hill after pleading guilty Oct. 3 to the Class 2 felony charge.

Individuals in custody who are admitted to the NRC are in reception status. They remain in reception status until they are transferred to a permanent institution. Peacock had been held in the Ogle County Jail in Oregon since his arrest in June.

Prosecutors said the offense took place when Peacock was working for the carnival during Polo’s Town & Country Days. He initially was charged June 17 with criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony, but the charges were amended June 25 to attempted criminal sexual assault, a Class 2 felony, and two counts of aggravated battery, Class 3 felonies.

He was charged with trying to sexually assault a woman after confronting her at her car June 16 at the Casey’s gas station, 120 N. Division Ave., Polo.

He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted criminal sexual assault on Oct. 3; the other charges were dismissed.

Ogle County Judge John “Ben” Roe sentenced Peacock to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He will serve 50% of that sentence and will receive credit for jail time already served – 109 days. He will have 12 months of mandatory supervised release when his sentence is completed.

Peacock pleaded guilty to using “force or the intent of force” when he placed his hand on the woman’s genitalia, intending to sexually assault her, according to court documents.

During a June 17 hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten said Peacock told the woman to take him inside the store, where she thought he was going to commit a burglary.

But, Leisten said, Peacock told her he didn’t want money. She then ran from the store, and Peacock followed, knocking her down onto the street and committing the assault before another person yelled and Peacock fled, Leisten said.