Man guilty of repeated rape of child gets 20-year sentence

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - A central Illinois man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison after admitting he repeatedly raped a child a decade ago.

In sentencing Gregory Reed of Mahomet , Champaign County Judge Tom Difanis called him ``sexually dangerous'Å¥ man who should never be around children again.

The News-Gazette in Champaign reports Reed, 43, pleaded guilty last month to predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under age 13 between January 2006 and July 2011. Champaign County sheriff's investigators became aware of the allegations in 2018, when the victim came forward. At the time, Reed was serving a 10-year prison sentence for aggravated child pornography for taking photographs of the girl and her friend as they changed clothing after swimming.

When Reed pleaded guilty, Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Alferink agreed to cap her sentencing recommendation at 20 years. During the sentencing hearing, sheriff's investigator Tim Beckett testified besides the victim of the ongoing sex assaults, four other girls who were friends of the victim made allegations Reed either touched them inappropriately or talked about sex with them.

Reed's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Matt Ham, argued for the minimum six years for his client, citing a tortured childhood.