CLINTON COUNTY — A 42-year-old New Baden man was sentenced Monday in Clinton County Court to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to a child sex offense.

Nickolas Bethard was arrested and charged in January with Class 1 felony Criminal Sexual Assault of a Family Member under the age of 18 and Class 2 aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim between the ages of 13 and 17.

He was then arrested in February on charges of Class 1 felony criminal sexual assault and Class 2 aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim between the ages of 13 and 17 and later was arrested on Class 3 felony aggravated battery in a public place and misdemeanor battery.

In May of this year, he entered into a plea agreement with the state in which he plead guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor battery and in the final case he pleaded “open” to the Class 1 felony criminal sexual assault in exchange for the other charges being dismissed.

Per the plea agreement, the state agreed to not file any additional charges for any incidents known to prosecutors involving the alleged victim in the case and the court ordered a sex offender evaluation.

Despite Bethard’s objection, he was also ordered to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

Bethard was initially scheduled for sentencing at the end of July but in early July the prosecution withdrew its request for a sex offender evaluation and the defense requested a new presentence investigation.

He was ultimately sentenced Friday on the open plea and in addition to the 14-year prison sentence, he was ordered to serve three years to life on parole. Bethard was given credit for 306 days served and was remanded to the custody of the Clinton County Jail to await transportation to IDOC.

Due to the sensitive nature of the cases, the prosecutor’s office declined to release any additional information on the cases against Nickolas Bethard in an effort to protect the victim.