LEROY, Ill. (WAND) - A resigned U of I police officer was arrested on charges of criminal sexual assault and abuse, state police said.Â
The Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigations took Leroy man Jerald E. Sandage, 48, into custody. The suspect was wanted on four separate warrants for five counts of criminal sexual assault, one charge of criminal sexual abuse and another two intimidation counts.Â
UIPD started an internal investigation of Sandage in late September 2019 after two complaints of sexual assault.
The complaints were initially were reviewed by the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office.
During the internal investigation, UIPD became aware of more information that led the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office to file seven counts of Official Misconduct on December 23, 2019.
The charges allege that multiple times between 2017 and 2018, Sandage, in his official capacity as a police officer, used the Law Enforcement Automated Data System to search for information about people for his own personal use.
The Illinois State Police and Champaign County Sheriff’s Office continued the investigation based on evidence found on Sandage’s cell phone and follow up information received from victims who came forward following the announcement of the Official Misconduct charges.
That investigation led to the State’s Attorney’s Office filing four separate cases, based on four separate victims, each alleging various acts of sexual abuse, sexual assault, and intimidation.
Sandage will be charged with Criminal Sexual Assault, a class 1 felony punishable by from 4 to 15 years. That charge alleges that on June 29, 2012, Sandage committed an act of sexual penetration with the victim knowing the victim was unable to give knowing consent. Police said the victim and Sandage were friends, and while they were together at a bar, the victim was intoxicated and went to Sandage’s residence and fell asleep.
Officers said photos found in Sandage’s phone show Sandage committing an act of sexual penetration with the victim, who was unaware that the sexual penetration had occurred until she was shown the photographs.
Sandage will be charged with Criminal Sexual Abuse, a class 4 felony punishable by from 1 to 3 years. That charge alleges that on March 19, 2016, Sandage committed an act of sexual conduct with the victim knowing the victim was unable to give knowing consent. In that case, officers said the victim and Sandage were friends. Photos found in Sandage’s phone show the victim appearing unconscious in various states of undress and show Sandage committing an act of sexual conduct with the victim. She was also unaware that the acts had occurred until shown the photographs.
Sandage will be charged with two counts of Criminal Sexual Assault, a class 1 felony punishable by from 4 to 15 years. Those charges allege that on September 22, 2018, Sandage committed acts of sexual penetration with the victim knowing the victim was unable to give knowing consent. In that case, investigators said that the victim met Sandage in a bar and accepted an invitation from him to go to a bar and listen to a band.
After the concert was over, she went to Sandage’s apartment, had a drink and fell asleep. When she woke up, police said she found Sandage on top of her raping her. She said she told Sandage to stop, but he did not. Investigation into Sandage’s cell phone revealed searches on September 3, 2018, for information about date rape drugs, police said.
Sandage will be charged with two counts of Criminal Sexual Assault, a class 1 felony punishable by from 4 to 15 years, and two counts of Intimidation, a class 3 felony punishable by from 2 to 10 years, for incidents that occurred between November 1, 2017, and November 1, 2019. Those charges allege that Sandage committed acts of sexual penetration with the victim knowing she was unable to give knowing consent, and that Sandage communicated threats to the victim with the intent to cause the victim to perform sex acts.
Police said the victim and Sandage were friends, and that Sandage became aware that the victim was having a relationship with a married man. The victim reported that Sandage threatened to expose the affair unless she committed sex acts with him.
On April 21, 2020, warrants were issued for Sandage in each of these cases, with bond on each of the warrants in the amount of $750,000, for a total of $3,000,000.
Sandage had previously posted $25,000 bond in the Official Misconduct case.
He will be arraigned on the new charges at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
As WAND-TV previously reported, Sandage resigned from the U of I Police Department in February while under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct. He was charged in December 2019 with seven counts of official misconduct, which included accusations of using police resources to target women from Feb. 2017 to Jan. 2018.
The police department had placed Sandage on administrative leave in Sept. 2018 when he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman off campus while off-duty. There were no criminal charges filed and he was allowed to go back to desk work. He went on administrative leave again the following month.
