A Bloomington man charged in the 2017 brutal stabbing death of a woman pleaded guilty Friday to child pornography charges involving a minor girl.
Kyle Brestan admitted to four counts of taking illegal photos of the teenage girl in spring 2017.
In exchange for the guilty plea, the state agreed to dismiss three additional counts of child pornography, 16 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The state also agreed to seek no more than 48 years in prison—a maximum of 12 years on each count—for the 35-year-old defendant when he is sentenced Nov. 8.
Brestan still faces first degree murder charges in the May 2017 stabbing death of Shannon Hastings. The East Peoria woman was found in a hotel room on the city’s west side with more than 100 stab wounds.
A Dec. 9 trial is scheduled on the murder charges. If convicted of murder, Brestan’s sentence must be served consecutively to his term on the child porn charges.
In his statement of facts supporting the plea agreement, First Assistant State’s Attorney Brad Rigdon said the illegal images were found by Bloomington police on Brestan’s cell phone during the murder investigation.
Defense lawyer Stephanie Wong did not dispute the prosecutor’s statement but told Judge Casey Costigan the girl had provided Brestan with false information about her age.
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