An 80-year-old Woodstock man has avoided jail time after pleading guilty to some of the charges accusing him of inappropriately touching multiple children during music lessons.
Donald C. Beyer, 80, of Woodstock, was charged with three counts of battery, a Class A misdemeanor.
The charges span three separate cases, one of which was filed last August and the other two were filed in October.
Court documents show Beyer was alleged to have inappropriately touched three separate juvenile female victims in McHenry County.
A criminal complaint said Beyer, between February 2021 and August 2022, touched a child’s knee area and held her hand.
A second criminal complaint said Beyer, between June 2021 and July 2022, put his hand under a second child’s shirt, rubbed her back and rubbed her stomach.
He also allegedly squeezed her thigh and grasped her side, the complaint said.
A third criminal complaint said Beyer, between June 2021 and August 2022, put his hand on a third child’s thigh.
He held her thigh midway between the knee and waist and held her hand, which he rubbed, the complaint said.
One of the victims was under 13 when the incidents occurred and the two other victims were in their mid-teenage years when the incidents occurred, court records show.
Prosecutors said the incidents occurred during piano lessons at the victims’ homes, the Northwest Herald reported.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office investigated the cases.
Court records show Beyer entered into a negotiated plea deal on Thursday with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
He pleaded guilty in the third case to one count of battery, a Class A misdemeanor, in exchange for his other two cases being dismissed.
McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt approved the plea deal and sentenced Beyer to one year of conditional discharge and ordered him to pay $1,038 in court fees and fines.