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Not Guilty Plea for Retired Cop Charged with Felony Sex Crime
A Galesburg man accused of molesting family members in recent years has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

76-year old Jerry Friend was in Knox County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon for an arraignment hearing. He made the not guilty plea through attorney Bill Butts to three-counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse, and also asked for a trial by jury.

Friend was arrested in late-January, accused of fondling one young female in both the Summers of 2008 and 2010. He's also accused of doing the same with a second female in 2010.

But Special Prosecutor Lorinda Lamken claims that other family members have also been molested by Friend, and has filed a motion asking that some of them be allowed to testify.

A hearing on that matter, and another motion Lamken said Tuesday she intends to file, will be scheduled during a hearing April 23rd.

Discovery dates were agreed to in the case, but Butts worries that the discovery will be, quote, "voluminous."

A trial in the case could happen in late-August.

Friend is out of jail after posting bond.
03 14 12 by Newsroom
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