Police and Courts

In a lengthy decision delivered Friday, a judge found a former Bloomington piano teacher guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault and producing child pornography of a young student captured on video engaging in sexual acts with the teacher.

Former arena manager John Butler has asked a judge to seal court records related to his 2020 misdemeanor conviction for theft in connection with what started as one of the largest embezzlement cases filed in McLean County and ended with a plea deal that required Butler to pay the city $450,000 restitution.

Sydney Mays Jr. was sentenced to three life terms in prison Friday for murder in the 2018 Bloomington shooting that killed three people and left a 4-year-old boy paralyzed.

The toxicology report from the body of deceased ISU student Jelani Day shows marijuana, caffeine, and nicotine use. Levels showed typical use and aren't toxicologically significant.

The LaSalle County coroner on Tuesday tried to push back on what he called false information circulating about Jelani Day’s death — rumors that have had plenty of room to spread in the absence of almost any information being released by authorities.

A doctor accused of sexually assaulting a patient in December 2019 now claims the sexual activity was consensual, according to statements Thursday by his defense lawyer at a court hearing.

Two years ago, prosecutors used Rich Sims' own music video to help put him behind bars. Now on parole, Rich says music will be what puts him on a brighter path.

A painting of deceased Illinois State University student Jelani Day appeared – and then was removed – from the Uptown Normal mural site in the past day, with plans to find it another home.

Authorities said Thursday that the body found three weeks ago near Peru, Ill., is that of miissing Illinois State University graduate student Jelani Day of Bloomington.

The sister of convicted murderer Cynthia Baker was convicted herself Tuesday of harassing a witness during Baker’s 2019 trial in the death of 8-year-old Rica Rountree.