A Crystal Lake man, who previously coached for the Prairie Ridge Jr. Wolves Football and Cheer, has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after prosecutors say he sexually assaulted a woman.
Bart R. Myers, 57, of Crystal Lake, was charged in August 2024 with one count of criminal sexual assault by force, a Class 1 felony, and criminal sexual assault unable to consent, a Class 1 felony.
A grand jury indictment filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleged that Myers committed an act of sexual penetration on a female victim on January 1, 2023.
The indictment said Myers inserted his “fingers and/or hand” into the woman while she was asleep, knowing she was unable to give consent, and held her down.
McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret O’Brien said the victim went to a New Year’s Eve party with Myers and his wife.
They were consuming alcohol and the victim decided to stay the night at Myers’ home.
The three decided that the victim would sleep in Myers’ bed with his wife instead of sleeping on the couch, O’Brien said.
O’Brien said Myers took off the victim’s pants while she was asleep and inserted his fist into her.
She woke up on her stomach to excruciating pain and Myers was holding her down with his other hand, O’Brien said.
The victim was able to get Myers off of her, gather her clothing and dress, O’Brien said. She went home and noticed she was bleeding from the assault.
O’Brien said the victim put her clothes in a bag and provided them to the police when she reported the incident. The clothing was submitted to the crime lab for testing.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and obtained an arrest warrant for Myers in August 2024.
He was taken into the custody of the McHenry County Jail and appeared for an Initial Appearance Court hearing the next day.
McHenry County Judge Carl Metz denied a petition to detain Myers filed by the state’s attorney’s office and released Myers with pre-trial conditions.
Myers was previously a coach in 2016 for the Prairie Ridge Jr. Wolves Football and Cheer organization, which is a feeder program for Prairie Ridge High School Athletics.
Court records show Myers entered into a negotiated plea deal with the state’s attorney’s office last week.
He pleaded guilty to an amended count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a Class 3 felony, in exchange for his more serious charges being dismissed.
The amended charge he pleaded to involved him admitting to committing the act of penetration on the victim, according to court documents.
McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt approved the plea deal and sentenced Myers to 90 days of periodic imprisonment in the McHenry County Jail and two years of probation pursuant to the plea agreement.
Myers will serve 30 weekends in jail and will be required to continue drug and alcohol treatment as recommended.
The victim, who does not wish to be publicly named, said she has felt silenced and objected to the plea deal, hoping Myers would instead face a jury of her peers to hear what he had done to her, see the evidence and to convict him.
“I wanted Bart Myers sentenced to the full extent the law allows for the crimes he committed. I did not want or agree to Bart Myers receiving a watered down plea deal, a Class 3 felony assault with great bodily harm, with no prison time, no Class 1 felony felony, no sex registry requirement,” she said.
In a victim impact statement read to the court at his plea agreement hearing, the woman said Myers’ attack was “predatory, unprovoked and brutal.”
“It has affected every part of my life physically, emotionally, mentally and financially. The trauma he inflicted has left deep, lasting wounds not only on me, but also my children, my family and my friends,” the victim said.
She said that she believed Myers was someone she could trust after her husband died. “He stood with my family during our grief. He led me to believe he would be a source of support and protection.”
The woman said the assault happened when she went out on New Year’s Eve 2022 “feeling hopeful” for the first time since losing her husband, only to be woken from sleep later that night, held down and violently sexually assaulted.
“What was supposed to be a night of support and celebration became the moment my life changed forever. Immediately after the assault, I was in shock, overwhelmed by a numbness that took over both my body and mind. I was frozen,” she said.
The woman said that even years later, the shock still hits her at times and she carries a constant fear and hypervigilance that never existed in her life before the attack.