The two men were formally charged Feb. 11, with the offenses alleged to have occurred Jan. 3, according to court records

A Whiteside County jury has found a Freeport man guilty of attempted predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under the age of 13 in connection with a reported assault at a Sterling school playground in 2023.

Testimony got underway Wednesday in Whiteside County Circuit Court, where a now-22-year-old Freeport man is facing multiple charges of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl at a Sterling school playground two years ago.

Woman was charged Dec. 1, 2023, with one count of arson, accused of setting a car on fire in Rock Falls.

A Lyndon man has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to domestic battery and a weapons charge.

After a hearing to determine whether a Freeport man’s right to a speedy trial was violated and if the case should be dismissed as a result, a Whiteside County judge ruled Friday that he will stand trial on multiple sex offenses next week.

Jason E. Johnson, 52, was sentenced in Lee County Circuit Court to 60 years in prison for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and a consecutive 7-year prison sentence for aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

A rural Dixon man charged with the attempted murder of three police officers at his residence in June will remain jailed.

The women were accused of entering a home in the 800 block of West Seventh Street in Sterling, punching a man in the face and pulling a woman's hair.