Columbia man guilty of sex abuse
A Columbia man entered a guilty plea this week in Monroe County Circuit Court to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Court information states that Matthew Brawley, 27, of Columbia, who was more than five years older than the victim at the time of the incident, committed acts of sexual penetration with a female who was between 13 and 17 years of age.
He was arrested by Columbia police following an October 2017 incident reported in the 900 block of North Main Street.
Brawley will be sentenced on Feb. 14, 2019.
Aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a Class 2 felony in Illinois and carries a sentence of between three and seven years in prison. A person convicted of this offense must also register as a sex offender.