Chelsea Robinson of 233 Poland Road, Danville, Illinois, was sentenced today to forty-eight months of Specialized Sex Offender Probation by Circuit Judge Nancy S. Fahey for the offense of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse. At the sentencing hearing, the Prosecution requested that Robinson serve five (5) years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for her crime. As part of any sentence, the defendant is required to register as a Sex Offender for the remainder of her natural life.
In the summer of 2018, the Danville Police Department learned from the victim in this case, then a seventeen (17) year old student at Danville High School, that he and Robinson, a teacher at that same institution, had been involved in a sexual relationship. In an ensuing investigation, Robinson confessed to Danville Police Detectives that she and the victim did engage in sexual intercourse on at least three (3) occasions in her Danville home.
During the sentencing hearing, the defense presented evidence from Robinson's mother, Robinson's Pastor, and Robinson herself. During cross-examinations of the witnesses, it was revealed that Robinson, to this day, believes that she was sexually assaulted by the minor. Thereafter, she explained through questioning by her attorney, that though she was "taken advantage of," she pleaded guilty because she "was the adult" in the situation.
The Prosecution presented the victim's mother at the sentencing hearing pursuant to the Illinois Rights of Crime Victims Act. She provided the Court with an impassioned statement articulating the profound impact Robinson's conduct has had upon her son, her, and their entire family.
State's Attorney Jacqueline Lacy noted that she and her Office will continue to vigorously prosecute sex offenders, as such criminals pose a uniquely serious threat to our community. Unfortunately, victims of sexual abuse are most often juveniles, and when such acts are committed upon our society's children by those with whom they have been entrusted, like a teacher, those crimes are particularly abhorrent. Such conduct simply will not be tolerated.
