A New Boston man sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a Class X felony of aggravated battery to a child. 27 year old Bradley Clark will also have to register for ten years as a violent child offender upon his release. The charge accused him of squeezing a three-month old infant and causing the child’s ribs to become broken at the spine. Clark was arrested in May following an investigation by the New Boston Police Department with assistance from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. He has been in custody on $500,000 bond since his arrest last spring. There was some back and forth in court this morning before Judge Richard Zimmer would accept the negotiated plea. When asked if the victim’s mother was in agreement with the sentence, Mercer County State’s Attorney Meeghan Lee told Judge Zimmer the woman did not want a prison sentence handed down in the case so she sought the minimum six year term instead of seeking the maximum 30 years. The mother disputed that exchange, but was then asked if she was agreeable to a six-year sentence and her response was “yes”. Clark had no prior criminal record.
