GALLATIN CO.—What was charged as a battery case in Gallatin County back in January has come to light as having been considerably more than that, and despite the incarceration of the perpetrator, many in Gallatin who know what’s going on are outraged over prosecutor Allen Roe’s handling of the matter.
On January 23, Roe charged Robert E. (“Bobby”) Downen, 62, of Shawneetown, with two counts: One of Aggravated Battery, in that Downen committed battery against a family member younger than 13, causing great bodily harm to her; and one of Unlawful Restraint, in that he knowingly and without legal authority detained her. The incidents were alleged to have occurred “in September 2013,” with no date given, a strange circumstance in and of itself for two reasons—that it took four months to bring it to a charge status, and that no specific date was given, as if the situation was obscured purposely.
The circumstances were not explained any further than that. It wasn’t indicated why the battery occurred (whether there was a fight, a butt-paddling that got out of control, etc), where the battery occurred, who discovered the battery, or any other specific.
To further complicate and make strange the already strange matter, in Downen’s criminal file and under his styling was an arrest warrant for a “Roger A. Combs, 21, of Shawneetown.”
Nevertheless, Downen was arrested and posted a $1,500 bond in his case on the day the incorrect warrant was issued, Jan. 24.
It was at that time that Disclosure began hearing from citizens of Shawneetown and members of the victim’s family that the “Aggravated Battery and Unlawful Restraint” weren’t just that…but were, rather, an incident of an assault that was sexual in nature.
These same sources also revealed that the little girl in question was Downen’s granddaughter…and the daughter of an Illinois State Police trooper.
And as it was related to Disclosure by numerous sources, one after the other, the family was not happy with Roe’s handling of the matter, and were at him constantly to file the charges in the first place, an act which took four months to accomplish…and which didn’t end in a sex charge, to the dismay of the girl’s parents.
However, the watered-down charge did serve to assuage the consternation of the Downens and their view of Roe, according to the friends and family who spoke with Disclosure on the matter, an important step…because of the fact that they are one of Gallatin’s handful of big farm families who own vast tracts of land and as such, are considered people of power.
So it appeared that Roe had, at least in his own mind, come to some kind of compromise in the situation: He didn’t piss off the farm family with a sex charge, and he appeased the girl’s parents in that he got Downen hemmed up on a fairly serious charge (accomplished easily, since the child in question has an age reportedly still in the single digits and Illinois is very strict on crimes against children).
Friends and family, however, say the girl’s parents were NOT appeased, hence the reason for the contact with Disclosure, in order to get the word out about what Roe did with Downen’s case.
What he did was amend the original two charges, on March 13, to state three counts instead of two, those three counts being Aggravated Domestic Battery causing great bodily harm on an unspecified day in July 2013, one on an unspecified day in August 2013; and one on an unspecified day in September 2013.
None of those counts are against a “child under the age of 13.” Reports from those close to the case indicate that at least one or more of the amended reflect action Downen took against his wife, Katie, not the granddaughter.
Sources close to the case advise that the action was to have broken the wife’s jaw. Which occasion this was remains unknown.
And in order to have it over with quickly, on the same day the amended charges were filed, Roe allowed Downen to take a plea and be sentenced on the same day.
Downen received a sentence of seven years DOC.
Downen was even allowed a couple of days to “get his affairs in order” and wasn’t taken into custody until March 17. He was admitted into Menard March 18, and has a projected parole date of February 29, 2020. He will have spent less than six years behind bars…and there will be no registration as a sex offender, since no such offense was charged.
Those who know the real story are incensed, some of them beyond words, about how the whole thing developed. However, in one of the most impoverished counties in the state, where only a handful of “names” literally own everything, this is unfortunately par for the course…and a prosecutor who must get elected (despite the dearth of qualified attorney in the area running for the office) likely looks to the handful of those with all the money to ensure that he stays employed (in office)…even if it’s at the expense of a little girl.