Jonesboro woman sentenced to 5 years for sex abuse, forging stolen checks | Crime

JONESBORO, IL (KFVS) - Union County State's Attorney Tyler R. Edmonds announced Tuesday that a Jonesboro woman has been sentenced to five years on one count of continuing financial crimes enterprise and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Liberty K. Batson, 33, has been sentenced to five years in the Department of Corrections.

Edmonds says Batson was originally charged with continuing financial crimes enterprise in November 2009 after she forged a number of stolen checks. According to Edmonds, she was sentenced to a term of probation on that charge in March 2010.

According to Edmonds, Batson's probation was revoked after she was resentenced Tuesday to a prison term based on her failure to abide by the terms of probation. The forgery investigation was conducted by the Union County Sheriff's Office.

Edmonds says the aggravated criminal sexual abuse charge comes from Batson's acts of sexual conduct with a minor between the ages of 13 and 17 during 2011 at a home in Jonesboro. He says Batson was arrested on the charge on Oct. 25, 2011 after an investigation by the Jonesboro Police Department.

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