Centralia Man Arrested For DUI Following Two Car Crash

A 23-year-old Centralia man faces multiple charges following a minor accident on South Elm and Calumet in Centralia late Friday night. Centralia Police say Victor Jenkins of Davis Street hit the rear of a car in front of him driven by 50-year-old Rodney Reuter of Moonglow Road in Centralia.

Jenkins was ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and for no insurance. He was taken to the Marion County Jail. Both drivers escaped injury, but a passenger in Jenkins car was taken to St. Mary's Hospital. Police reports indicate 22-year-old Jaimee Maue of South Elm in Centralia was taken to the hospital for treatment of extreme alcohol intoxication. Only minor damage was reported to the two vehicles.

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Kell Man Charged With Harmful Material Offense For Sending Lewd Photo Over Cell Phone

Marion County Sheriff's Deputies have arrested a 23-year-old Kell man on a Class Four felony charge of harmful material. Brian Edwards of East Second is accused of sending a pornographic photo of part of his body to a 17-year-old Kell girl and made a suggestive comment in an accompanying text message. The two apparently had become friends earlier on Facebook and police reports indicate Edwards was aware at the time they began talking that the girl was only 17 years old.

Edwards claimed the photo was sent following text messages of a sexual nature that the 17-year-old victim believes may have been sent by a friend. The harmful material charge can be filed against a person over the age of 18 who fails to exercise reasonable care in ascertaining the true age of a minor and knowingly distributes, sends, distributes, or exhibits any harmful material. The charge is a Class A misdemeanor unless the person utilized a computer web camera, cellular telephone, or any other type of device to manufacture the harmful material. In that case, the charge becomes a Class 4 felony.

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Marion County Police Beat for Saturday, March 10th, 2012

A 20-year-old Olney man was being held in the Marion County Jail Saturday on drug charges following his arrested by Marion County Sheriff's Deputies.

Nicholas Luther is being held for alleged possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. Three others were sent to jail from court on petitions to revoke their probation.

23-year-old Michael Lee Bessette of Kroger Street in Wamac and 20-year-old Brett Lyday of West Chestnut in Odin remain in custody.

24-year-old John Rayford of Forrest Avenue of Mt. Vernon posted $750 bond and was released. Three others are being held on outstanding warrants.

32-year-old Kenneth Asencio of West Tenth Street in Centralia was arrested by sheriff's deputies on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.

26-year-old Christopher Bratton of South 18th in Mt. Vernon is being held on an outstanding traffic warrant. 73-year-old J.T. Thomas of Chicago was arrested by sheriff's deputies on an outstanding Lake County warrant.

A 20-year-old Michigan City, Indiana man was arrested by State Police on multiple drug charges following a traffic stop. David Gates was ticketed for driving under the influence of drugs, possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia. He posted $300 bond and was released.

Salem Police arrested a 46-year-old Mexico, Missouri man on multiple charges after receiving a complaint about his poor driving habits. Kenneth Foster posted $150 bond and was released for possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia and for driving while license revoked.

25-year-old Billy Jo Schleuter of South College in Salem posted $150 bond and was released after being arrested by Salem Police for driving on a suspended license.

20-year-old Caleb Bushue of North Poplar in Centralia posted $950 bond and was released after being arrested by Marion County Sheriff's Deputies on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.

The Marion County Sheriff's Department is investigating the theft of a laptop computer from the Susan Higgins home on Red Stripe Road in rural Sandoval. The computer was valued at $500.

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Quinn Wants To Abolish Lawmakers' Ability To Award College Scholarships

Gov. Pat Quinn says it's time to abolish Illinois lawmakers' ability to award college scholarships to students in their districts. He says the legislative scholarship program has been abuses "over and over again" for decades. Lawmakers have long been criticized for awarding scholarships to children of campaign contributors and other questionable practices. On Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that State Sen. Annazette Collins of Chicago appears to have given scholarships to students who lived outside her district.

She denies any wrongdoing. Quinn said Friday that he's tried for two years to end the practice through amendatory vetoes, and it's time for legislators to but a bill on his desk to "end it once and for all." He also says he thinks any violations of the scholarship rules should be investigated.

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Governor Supports Plan To Ban Cell Phone Usage While Driving

Governor Quinn is supporting a plan to ban cell phone usage while driving. The Illinois House has passed a ban that would only allow the phones to be used with a hands free device. Any number dialed would have to be completed through the use of only one button. "Saving lives on the highway and road is very very important, so we should all put our minds and hearts together to carry out this mission of public safety," said Quinn.

Illinois has had less than one thousand highway fatalities for the past three years. Quinn says that's an accomplishment that hasn't been reached since the 1920's in Illinois. However, Quinn says more work needs to be done to make roads safer across the state.

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Mascoutah man guilty of porn charges

Jeremy S. Beasley, 22, of Mascoutah, has pleaded guilty to charges of enticement of a minor and distribution of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Stephen Wigginton, announced.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 31. Beasley is detained without bond pending sentencing. He faces ten years to life imprisonment on one count and five to 20 years imprisonment on the other.

On Sept. 6, 2010, Beasley asked an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to send him sexually explicit images of herself. Beasley met and conversed with the person he believed to be a 14 year old girl while posing as a 16-year-old boy on MySpace.

The other violation occurred Aug. 11, 2010, when an officer participating in an Internet undercover operation downloaded 18 images and/or videos containing child pornography from Beasley's computer.

Beasley told law enforcement officers he used a file sharing program to download child pornography. He said his account was set to share, and he knew others could access and download the images.

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