Erie man accused of sex with minors sent to prison for sexually assaulting 15-year-old

MORRISON — An Erie man has been sentenced in Whiteside County to four years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday, April 1, to sexually assaulting a teenager in 2020.

Dallas N. Jones, 23, pleaded guilty to that charge as well as charges in two other cases – one in which he pleaded guilty to possessing a video in February 2021 depicting a person younger than 18 being sexually abused and another in which he pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse for having sex with two 16-year-olds in his apartment in January 2021.

The cases were filed in connection with three separate events that happened in 2020 and early 2021 – when he was a recent high school graduate – with teens he had met while in high school. The Whiteside County State’s Attorney’s Office filed trial information in all three cases March 30, 2021. Those cases include:

• One felony case accusing him of committing two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sex abuse on Oct. 11, 2020. The charge accused him of having sex with a 15-year-old while she was under the influence of cannabis. He pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual assault, was sentenced to four years in prison and will be on mandatory supervised release anywhere from three years to life. The other three charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
• A second felony case accusing him of two counts of creating a video depicting sexual abuse of a person younger than 18 on Sept. 5, 2020, and a third count of possessing a video on Feb. 26, 2021, depicting a person younger than 18 being sexually abused. He pleaded guilty to the possession charge and was sentenced to 180 days in the Whiteside County Jail and 48 months of probation. The other two charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
• The third case charged him with two misdemeanor counts of criminal sex abuse of two 16-year-old victims on Jan. 3, 2021. He pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to 180 days in the Whiteside County Jail. Whiteside County Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Simon said the two teenagers went to Jones’ apartment knowing they would be drinking alcohol, that Jones would be there and sex acts would occur. The teens, who drank to excess, later learned they had been video recorded while having sex with Jones, Simon said. The recording was not found.

The victim of the felony cases as well as the two misdemeanor victims were aware of the terms of the plea agreement and supported them, Simon said.

After hearing the terms of the proposed plea and the factual basis for the charges, Whiteside County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Rangel-Kelly left the courtroom to weigh her decision.

When she returned, she said she had left the courtroom to think about whether to accept the agreement, not to cause angst for the defendant.

“Disturbing is an understatement for what these charges were,” Rangel-Kelly said.

She said she would accept the agreement because all victims supported its terms. If they had not, Rangel-Kelly said, she would not have accepted the plea deal.

After he was sentenced, Jones was taken into immediate custody. Jones also was ordered to have no contact with the three victims. He also was ordered to register as a sex offender.